SMYRNA — Padua’s young volleyball team hung tough against a veteran Smyrna squad on Sept. 17, but in the end, the host Eagles found just enough points to edge the Pandas, 3-2, in five close, tense sets. Set scores were 20-25, 25-23, 25-23, 23-25, and 15-11.
For Padua, it was the team’s second five-set loss in 48 hours. The Pandas fell to Archmere in five sets on Thursday.
The Pandas, ranked xxth in the latest Delaware Live Sports top 10, stunned the No. X Eagles in the first set, jumping out behind the powerful right arm of Cassidy Jester. Early on in the match, she had four kills in a five-point stretch to boost Padua to a 6-3 lead. Smyrna battled, but they could never quite catch up to Padua. The Pandas’ lead stayed in the four- to six-point range, and Mary Mancini ended the first with a tap that found the floor while surrounded by Smyrna players.
Smyrna’s Anna Richardson was swinging all day, and in the second set, she spearheaded a 5-0 run early with a couple of kills. The Pandas fought back, but the Eagles retook the lead on a smash by Mia Schultz, followed immediately by a Schultz block.
The Pandas finally re-tied the score at 15 on a service winner, and that was the catalyst for a 4-0 run that culminated with a Jester smash. The Eagles answered, taking a 22-20 lead on a Padua error. The Pandas saved two set points, but the set ended on a service violation.
The teams played an even third set. It was tied seven times in the first half of the set, the last time at 12-12 after a Pandas service error. The Eagles went on to score the next six points with Schultz on the serve. Elise Carter had a block and a big kill during that run, while Shelby Fedele had two big kills, and Schultz contributed an ace.
But no one told Padua that an 18-12 deficit was a reason to despair. The Pandas ran off seven of the next eight, taking a 21-20 lead. Back and forth they went, until an unforced error gave the Eagles the lead for good. Richardson sent it to set point with a tip kill, and after the Pandas saved once, Richardson did it again.
The fourth set looked much like the third, with the teams battling throughout. Kaitlyn Leberstien pulled the Pandas even at 12-12 with an ace, but Smyrna answered with the next three, the last of which saw Richardson blocked out of bounds.
That did not phase Padua. They scored three points on consecutive errors by the Eagles, then Jester added another kill. Jester struck again after an Eagles timeout, but Richardson crushed two kills in a row, then Carly Timblin served up an ace that put Smyrna back on top, 19-18.
The teams were locked at 22-22 when Aanya Yatavelli smoked one, and an unforced Smyrna error took it to set point. After one save, a Pandas bump from the side of the court in front of the fans landed on the Smyrna side of the net.
The Eagles took the first lead in the fifth set as Megan Carroll smashed a Pandas overpass straight down. Padua’s first lead was 5-4 following an ace from Olivia Bowers, and after an error increased that lead to two, Smyrna called a timeout.
The Eagles tied it at 6, and the score was 10-10 when Smyrna put the match away. Carter knocked a shot off the Pandas’ block, and a hitting error increased the lead to two. An unforced Pandas error, followed by a Carter cross, gave Smyrna four match points. Sklyar Berge brought the activity to an end after two-plus hours by smacking an overpass into a seam between two Pandas defenders.
Richardson finished with 23 kills and three aces, while Carter had 12 kills and five blocks. Berge contributed 11 kills. The Eagles (4-0) host Lake Forest on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m.
For the Pandas, Jester had 21 kills, the only Panda in double figures. Yatavelli had five aces, and Mancini five blocks. Mandy Quinn had 34 digs for the Pandas. Padua (1-2) visits Saint Mark’s on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.
All photos by Mike Lang.
