Home Local Sports Saint Mark’s volleyball sweeps Red Lion to improve to 5-0: Photo gallery

Saint Mark’s volleyball sweeps Red Lion to improve to 5-0: Photo gallery

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Katie Sonchen sets for the Spartans in a 3-0 win over Red Lion. Dialog photo/Mike Lang

MILLTOWN — Bolstered by a raucous student section, the Saint Mark’s volleyball team remained undefeated on the season with a 3-0 sweep of Red Lion on Sept. 23. The set scores were 25-14, 25-20, and 25-15.

The Lions came in with a record of 3-0, and they proved to be a worthy adversary most of the night. The score was tied in the first, 6-6, when the Spartans began a four-point run on a Red Lion service error. The lead stayed in the four- to five-point range for a bit until Saint Mark’s pulled away.

After the Lions’ Peyton Pusey knocked a kill off the block to make the score 14-10 in favor of Saint Mark’s, the Spartans got one back on a blast by Julia Yurkovich. Two unforced errors added to the host’s lead. They finished the set on a 7-2 run that included aces from Angelina Mendez and Mya Lewis, and Brooke Dow ended it with another big kill.

The Spartans took a 15-10 lead in the second, but the Lions responded. Pusey started a four-point run with a smash, followed by three straight aces from Adora Anthos. Red Lion tied the score at 15 and 16, and they stayed close thanks to some big hits from Eliza Schneider. She pulled the Lions to within one at 21-20 with two consecutive kills, but the Spartans scored on a Lions hitting error, and Julia Yurkovich closed the set with three straight blasts.

The Spartans were in control of the third set. Lewis and Pusey traded kills early on, but a series of unforced errors on Red Lion helped Saint Mark’s to an 8-3 lead. The focus then went to the two players wearing No. 12, Yurkovich and Schneider, who both got some big shots off in the middle of the set.

Saint Mark’s led, 14-9, and used a five-point streak — capped by a Lewis bomb — to gain some separation. The Lions saved two match points, but the night ended on a service error.

Schneider had 12 kills to lead Red Lion, while Pusey had 11, along with 10 digs. Anthos picked up 17 digs, and Regan Mendick had 12 digs and 28 asssists. The Lions (3-1) make the short trip to Caravel on Tuesday at 6:15 p.m.

Final statistics were not available for Saint Mark’s early Friday morning. The Spartans improved to 5-0 and will host Ursuline on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

All photos by Mike Lang.