WILMINGTON — Padua’s volleyball team returned to the court on Oct. 20 for the first time since its loss to New Jersey power Paul VI four days prior and three days before a battle with Delaware’s top team, Tower Hill. If there was any chance the Pandas would get caught up in those two matches and overlook host Delaware Military Academy, the Seahawks quickly reminded them that they weren’t going to be a pushover.
DMA pushed the Pandas in two of the three sets, but Padua left with a sweep. Set scores were 25-20, 25-16, and 25-21.
A service error on the Seahawks put Padua on top, 4-3, in the first set, and Mina Nowroozi followed with a kill. The Pandas added six more points, the final one a kill by freshman Morgan Ludwig, as the lead grew to eight. Padua kept the pressure on, going ahead by 11 at 19-8 before a Pandas hitting error gave DMA some momentum.
Maddie McNicholas took over on serve, and the Seahawks went on a run. She had three aces in a four-point span, and after a kill by Emma Kelley brought DMA to within five a 19-14, the Pandas called a timeout. The Seahawks scored three more before Padua ended the run. The Pandas grew the lead to 24-19, and after one save, another freshman, Emma Cleveland (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish), ended the set with a smash.
The second set was competitive for a long stretch, with a service error helping the Seahawks cut their deficit to two at 10-8. The Pandas went ahead, 17-10, but DMA scored the next four points to make it interesting again. After that, it was all Pandas.
Ludwig started a 7-0 run with a big swing. A few points later, Nowroozi won a 50/50 battle at the net, and Julia Kelley (St. Ann Parish) followed with an ace. After A DMA hitting error, SydneyPaige Huston tipped a ball into open spaces to extend the lead to 24-14. Padua took the set on a service error.
McNicholas gave the Seahawks a one-point advantage on two occasions early in the third, but a 4-0 Padua run that included two kills from Cleveland and an ace from Reagan Maus made it 12-8. Annamay Hendrixson (St. Mary of the Assumption Parish) pushed the lead to five at 16-11 with a block, but the Seahawks responded.
A 6-2 stretch brought the set to a draw at 19-19, with Tara Batula scoring the tying point with a kill. Ludwig restored the Padua lead on a tap, and Huston followed with an ace. Julia Kelley followed a fantastic save with a kill, ending a 4-0 run. Cleveland smashed one off the block to send it to match point, and after DMA saved once, Hendrixson knocked one straight down to end it.
Cleveland and Julia Kelley each had seven kills for the Pandas, and Hendrixson led with five blocks. Padua (10-2) and Tower Hill begin at 6:15 p.m. Friday at Carpenter Field House on the Tower campus.
For Delaware Military, McNicholas and Batula had six kills each. McNicholas and Zoe Wadieh each had four blocks. The Seahawks (7-5) visit Saint Mark’s on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in an SL24 Serving Up Support match.
Photos by Mike Lang.
