MILLTOWN — Saint Mark’s bounced back from it’s only loss of the regular season with a convincing 3-0 victory over Wilmington Friends in the second round of the DIAA volleyball tournament on Nov. 4. Set scores were 25-14, 25-13, and 25-17.
The Spartans, the top-seeded team in the bracket, advance to the quarterfinals against No. 9 Tower Hill. The Hillers upset the Spartans last November in the state championship match.
Before getting to that point, however, Saint Mark’s had to avoid looking past the Quakers, who earned the tournament’s 17th seed a year after a rare absence from the postseason.
The Spartans started with the serve, and Maddi Way got them off to a conspicuous start. The sophomore delivered three straight aces; more than half of the Spartans’ 18 in the match would come in the first set. Friends actually battled back to tie the set at 4-4 on a Saint Mark’s attack error, but after Scarlett Burleigh’s kill drew the Quakers even at 6-6, the Spartans scored nine of the next 10 points to take control.
That stretch included consecutive aces by Bethany Neidlein, and after Violet Perloff recorded a kill for Friends, Ava Borcky wrapped up a 6-0 Spartans run with three straight aces.
Saint Mark’s again took a 3-0 lead to begin the second set, only this time, Friends would never get closer than three points. Borcky did most of her damage in the second on the attack, and the Spartans also got contributions up front from Reagan Garibaldi and Lauren Mehelas. The set concluded when Mehelas smacked a shot off the hands of a Quakers blocker.
Ellie Dealy’s kill to begin the third set gave the Quakers their first lead of the evening, and they stretched that to 2-0 on a Spartans attack error. A cross from Ashley Strohmeier, however, got the Spartans on the board, and they would add the next five points as well.
Friends overcame some unforced errors with a short run in the later stages of the third to get back to within four. That run included a block by Ava Tabron, followed by a Dealy ace, but Saint Mark’s got a side out and went back to work. Taylor Holly tossed up a pair of aces to get it to 21-14. Friends saved two match points until Borcky ended the competition with a cross, her team-leading fifth and final kill of the night.
Four players each had three kills for Saint Mark’s. Holly, Way and Neidlein each had four aces. The Spartans’ match against Tower Hill is scheduled for Nov. 9 at 6:30 at Saint Mark’s.
No statistics were available for the Quakers late Saturday night. Friends finished the season at 10-6.
All photos by Mike Lang.
