WILMINGTON — Padua’s volleyball team welcomed undefeated Newark Charter to Broom Street on Oct. 3, and the Pandas came ready to play. They put together perhaps their best match of the season in a 3-0 sweep of the Patriots. Set scores were 25-7, 25-23 and 25-12.
The night got off to an auspicious start as Kaitlyn Leberstien served up consecutive aces, and Vanessa Mancini added a kill. But after Newark Charter used a Sara Shuts kill to pull within a point at 3-2, Padua used a series of small runs to put the set away.
One of those, a 5-0 stretch, began with a kill by Hannah McGuigan and ended with a McGuigan block. A service error ended that streak, but the Pandas scored the next five after that. Leberstien was on serve for the final five points of the first. Libby Neiburg smashed a kill and Leberstien served up two more aces, including the clincher.
The second set was close throughout. Early on, the Patriots’ Avery Murray tapped the ball into an open space, then served an ace to tie the score, 5-5. Zhara Pritchett scored the next two on a block and a kill to give Newark Charter a two-point lead, and Murray threw down another ace.
The Patriots led, 11-7, when Padua roared back. A 6-0 run put them on top, 13-11, and it included a kill by Avery Pilger, a smash and a stuff by Mancini, and two more aces from Leberstien. Shuts broke a 20-20 tie with a block, and a Pandas error combined with an ace from Addison Kennedy gave the Patriots a 23-20 advantage.
Padua regained serve on an error, and they went to work. Neiburg stuffed a ball, and Pilger added a tip to tie it up. An error gave the Pandas set point, and Aanya Yatavelli completed the comeback by painting the end line with a blast.
Leberstien continued her mastery of the serve to open the third. She had five aces as the Pandas scored the first 10 points. After Newark Charter cut three points off the lead, Neiburg contributed two more blocks as the lead reached 15-3.
The Patriots scored six of the next seven, with a Pritchett stuff getting them within 16-9. A 6-0 run for Padua, however, sent it to match point, and after Newark Charter saved one, Leighton Egan set McGuigan for a push toward the right sideline to end the contest.
Leberstien and Pilger each had nine kills, and Mancini and Yatavelli had seven apiece. Leberstien also had 11 aces, and Neiburg had four blocks. The Pandas (5-4) host Delaware Military on Thursday at 7:15 p.m.
Final statistics were not available for Newark Charter, which is now 5-1. The Patriots host Saint Mark’s on Thursday at 6:15 p.m.
All photos by Mike Lang.
