The Dialog

Dialog reporter

MILLTOWN – After escaping with a two-point win in the first set, then pulling away in the second, the Padua volleyball team left no doubt that they belonged in the state championship match coming up on Monday night.

A 7-1 run early in the third put the Pandas up, 12-4, over St. Mark’s, and Padua would go on to a 25-12 win to complete the sweep in the semifinal round Nov. 9 at St. Mark’s. The top-seeded Pandas will attempt to win their first state title since 2013 when they meet No. 3 Ursuline at the Bob Carpenter Center on Monday after the consolation match, which begins at 5:30 p.m. Read more »

Dialog reporter

WILMINGTON – The seedings might have indicated that Conrad was the 12^th-ranked team in the state volleyball tournament and St. Mark’s the fourth, but the quarterfinal match the teams played on Nov. 7 was much closer than that. The Spartans and Red Wolves battled through three tough sets before St. Mark’s prevailed in a sweep at the St. E Center. Set scores were 25-21, 25-23, and 25-19.

With the win, the Spartans advanced to the semifinals on Thursday night on their home court. They will meet top-seeded Padua approximately 20 minutes after the first semi, which will pit No. 3 Ursuline vs. No. 2 Tower Hill. It is St. Mark’s deepest tournament run since 2013, when the Spartans fell in five tense sets – to Padua. Read more »

Dialog reporter

WILMINGTON – Padua’s seniors had a successful final volleyball home match on Oct. 24, fighting off a quality St. Mark’s squad in a 3-0 sweep. The Pandas took the match by scores of 25-16, 28-26, and 25-19.

Match point was delivered, naturally, by senior Emily Jarome, who crushed a ball set by her classmate, Emma Lucey. Jarome finished the evening with 20 kills and 13 digs, while Jess Molen added 17 kills and 11 digs. Katie McGonigal led the Pandas with 17 digs. Read more »

Dialog reporter

WILMINGTON – Two of the state’s best volleyball teams met Sept. 28, and they did not disappoint. Ursuline hosted St. Mark’s in a Catholic Conference showdown, and the host Raiders left with an entertaining, hard-fought 3-1 win in front of a spirited crowd.

Set scores were 25-19, 19-25, 25-17, 25-15. Read more »

Dialog reporter

MILLTOWN – Padua’s volleyball team kept its season-opening win streak going, while handing St. Mark’s it’s first defeat of 2017 in a 3-0 win Sept. 19. The set scores in the first Catholic Conference match of the year were 25-21, 25-19 and 25-17.

A large, spirited crowd was on hand to watch the Pandas, ranked third in the state by 302Sports.com, battle the No. 4 Spartans. Both teams came into the evening with 3-0 records and just one lost set between them, as Padua defeated Newark Charter by a 3-1 score. The fans saw lots of big hits and a night full of superb defense by both teams. Read more »

For The Dialog

ALAPOCAS – Senior Erin Derick and sophomore Savannah Seemans combined for 24 kills, seven blocks, seven digs and 35 assists to lead St Mark’s to a sweep of Friends in nonconference volleyball on Sept. 12. The Spartans won by set scores of 25-20, 25-14 and 25-17. Read more »

Dialog reporter

St. Mark’s surprised some observers last season by putting up a 9-6 regular season before falling to Wilmington Charter in the first round of the tournament.

“I was a little surprised (by last year’s success),” senior hitter Erin Derick said. “Going into the tournament and having a bye, that was surprising for me because I’d never had one before, but with all the great girls that we had, it wasn’t that surprising.” Read more »

For The Dialog

WILMINGTON – The young Ursuline volleyball team sent its seniors out with a win on Oct. 29 against St. Mark’s. The Raiders took the match in a sweep, 25-18, 25-16 and 25-17.

Fourth-ranked Ursuline jumped out early in the first set as Sam Davis had a kill and an ace to stake them to an 8-3 advantage. Corinne Furey then took over with a run of three kills to increase the lead to 14-6. Genevieve Hughes capped a St. Mark’s run that cut the deficit to 16-13, but Ursuline ended the set on a 9-5 run with a Cassidy Markel kill. Read more »

For The Dialog

MILLTOWN – St. Mark’s, the sixth-ranked volleyball team in the state, is in a tough stretch of its schedule, but the Spartans swept No. 8 Red Lion on Oct. 17. The Spartans won by scores of 25-12, 25-16 and 25-18. Junior Erin Derick had 14 kills, eight digs and 10 assists to pace the Spartans.

The Lions were hanging with St. Mark’s in the first set, trailing 10-7, before the Spartans closed it out with a 15-5 run. Genevieve Hughes and Derick each had two kills in that span, although the set ended with a Red Lion service error. Read more »

For The Dialog

MILLTOWN — St. Mark’s used a balanced attack and scoring runs at key points to upend Delaware Military Academy, 3-1, in nonconference volleyball action Oct. 11. Set scores were 25-22, 21-25, 27-25 and 25-23.

The match was all about runs, and the team that had the lead at the beginning of each set lost. The first set started with No. 3 DMA jumping out to a 14-9 lead, with five different Seahawks contributing kills. Read more »