WILMINGTON — Padua’s volleyball team continued its preparation for the state tournament with another tough match on Oct.21, this time at Wilmington Charter. The Pandas took the first two sets before the Force stormed back to tie, but Padua prevailed, 3-2, in five.
Set scores were 25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 21-25, and 15-11. It was the Pandas’ first five-setter of the season.
The Force rallied late in the fourth to tie the match and seemed to have the momentum going into the fifth, a frenetic race to 15 points, Padua had the initial push. A rare miscue by the Force resulted in the first point, and Kaitlyn Leberstien — who was sensational on the serve and all over the court all afternoon — followed with an ace. After an attack error on Charter, Libby Neiburg reached up to knock down a Force kill attempt to push the lead to 4-0.
Wilmington Charter responded, getting points from Miranda Ting and Seraphina Pabian on the way to an 8-8 tie. Leberstien put the Pandas back on top, this time for good, with a cross that danced along the tape before falling to the ground. Aanya Yatavelli then snuck a cross inside the antenna for a kill, and a Force miscue extended the lead to three. Charter cut the deficit to one before the Pandas’ final push.
Neiburg smashed one for a kill, and, after a timeout, Eva Stimmel delivered an ace. Charter scored, but Yatavelli smacked one off the Force front line, and Leberstien closed it out with yet another ace.
For a while, it didn’t appear the match would go that long. The teams battled through two tight sets, with Padua overcoming deficits midway through both to take the 3-0 lead. The first set was tied at 18 when the Force went on a 4-0 run ignited by an Emma Shaner stuff. They led, 23-19, when Leberstien scored on a kill to ignite a set-ending rally. Vanessa Mancini followed with an emphatic kill, and after a net violation on the Force tied the score, Leberstien ended it with back-to-back aces.
A block and two attacks from Neiburg gave the Pandas an 18-14 lead in the second, but the Force went on a 5-0 run that included a Pabian smash and an ace from Ella Bufano. After a Charter error tied the score, Ally Lang’s ace put Padua on top to stay. Hannah McGuigan dinked one to send it to set point at 24-20, but the Force scored the next three. With extra points looming, McGuigan struck again, stuffing a Charter overpass.
A 6-0 run by the Force early in the second set the tone for the third set. Shaner contributed a kill and a block during that streak, which was punctuated by consecutive aces from Pabian. The Pandas got to within three on three occasions late in the set, but Charter prevailed.
Pabian was instrumental in getting the Force going in the fourth set. Her numerous kills helped them get the score to 16-9, but reaching 25 would not be easy. A Pabian attack put Charter ahead, 19-16, but Neiburg capitalized on a great save by Donavyn Morris to level the set, capping a 3-0 run. Shaner started a four-point streak that provided some separation, and Pabian’s back-line laser ended the set and tied the match, setting the stage for the decisive fifth.
Final statistics were not available Saturday night. Padua (9-4) visits Saint Mark’s on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m., while the Force (9-4) is on the road Tuesday at 4:45 p.m. at First State Military.
All photos by Jason Winchell.
