NEWARK — Saint Mark’s is headed back to the DIAA championship game for the third consecutive year and the fourth time in the past five years after a 3-0 sweep of Middletown on Nov. 12 at the Bob Carpenter Center. Set scores were 25-21, 25-23, and 25-18.
The second-seeded Cavaliers held an early lead in the first set, but the Spartans, the No. 6 team in the field, scored six of seven at one point to tie it, 13-13. Gia Pezzullo (St. Paul Parish, Delaware City) gave Saint Mark’s the lead with a block, and a few points later, Adriana Morris extended the lead to 17-14 with an ace. Middletown cut the lead to 23-21 late, but the Spartans had the final two points to take the first.
Madison Garrett of Middletown tied the second set at 14 with a kill, one of many she had on the evening. The Cavs took a 17-16 when the Spartans could not handle a serve, but Saint Mark’s took advantage of a Cavaliers error to go ahead, 18-17. Pezzullo ended the second set with a blast.
The third set was close for a long while, with the Spartans and Cavaliers both playing stellar defense. Anna Spofford came off the bench to give Saint Mark’s a spark offensively, knocking down several attacks, including the match winner.
The Spartans improved to 15-3. Their opponent in the final will be a familiar one. Tower Hill is the two-time defending champion and has three titles in the past four seasons. The match is Nov. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.
Tower, the No. 5 seed, earned another berth in the championship with a 3-1 win over Archmere, the ninth seed. Set scores were 25-22, 24-26, 25-19, and 25-18. It was the Hillers’ second win over the Auks this season.
Tower senior hitter Sydney Fischer was virtually unstoppable. She ended up with 30 kills and threw in 13 digs on top of that. Jillian Truesdell added 11 kills, and Cadence Davis and Madison Squire had 10 each.
The Auks trailed, 23-16, in the second set before beginning a stirring comeback that ended with them taking the set. Archmere led early in the third set, but Fischer got going again.
Grace Mahoney (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish) had 14 kills for the Auks, while Brooke Maddox had 13 and Lillian Guzevich (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish) had a dozen. Guzevich also had 12 digs to lead the team. Vivian Guzevich had six blocks.
Archmere finished the season 14-5, with tournament victories over the eighth seed, Sussex Central, and No. 1 Caesar Rodney, both on the road.
Photos by Mike Lang.
