Home Local Sports Padua Academy earns top seed in Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association volleyball tournament

Padua Academy earns top seed in Delaware Interscholastic Athletic Association volleyball tournament

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With Padua's Avery Pilger serving in the background at Newark Charter, teammates, from left, Annamay Hendrixson, Hannah McGuigan and Kaitlyn Leberstien prepare for the point. The Pandas are the No. 1 seed in the 2024 state tournament.
 
 

Padua has earned the top seed in the 2024 DIAA volleyball state tournament field, which was announced Oct. 27. The Pandas finished with a record of 11-4 and finished the season with two big wins that helped them secure the top spot.

Padua leads a heavily Catholic bent at the top of the bracket. They are joined in the top five seeds by Ursuline, the second seed, and Saint Mark’s, which is fifth. In addition, Wilmington Charter earned the fourth seed. The Force are coached by Saint Mark’s graduate Mary Pat Kwoka, who previously coached at Ursuline, St. Elizabeth and Archmere.

Two Auks, including Haley Schleeweis (10) go up for a block at Delaware Military Academy.

Speaking of the Auks, they’re dancing as well. They are the 11th seed and will host No. 22 Conrad on Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. Archmere and the Red Wolves are both members of the Diamond State Athletic Conference, and they played on Oct. 11 at Conrad. The Auks swept that one, with Claire McGonigle getting a team-leading 13 kills. Archmere plays its entire roster, getting attacks from multiple sources, including Ava Beach and Grace Mahoney. Abby Im is one of a few players who do the setting.

Conrad is coached by Saint Mark’s alumna Jen Skinner.

Padua got to the top spot thanks in part to the difficulty of their schedule and their success against that group. They earned bonus points toward their seeding index in all but one of their matches, and all but two of their Delaware opponents are in the state tournament. Padua also played two out-of-state powerhouses, winning one, and picking up key bonus points.

Padua has a number of weapons, led by Kaitlyn Leberstien, Avery Pilger and Hannah McGuigan up front. The back line includes libero Kaitlyn Maus and defensive specialist Donavyn Morris. A deep roster has come in handy all season.

The top eight seeds get first-round byes. Padua opens play at home on Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. against the winner of No. 17 Middletown at No. 16 Cape Henlopen. They did not play either team this year.

Ursuline’s Claire Kelly prepares to attack in the Raiders’ match against Saint Mark’s on Oct. 26.

Ursuline clinched the second seed with a win over Saint Mark’s on the final day of the regular season. The Raiders are the most veteran team in the field with 12 seniors. Among them, Claire Kelly and Jules Cummings are monsters at the net, while Julianna Lenz patrols the back. Hayley Timmons, one of the juniors on the team, is among the best servers in Delaware.

The winner of No. 18 Caesar Rodney at No. 15 Smyrna will travel to Ursuline’s newly opened gymnasium on Nov. 2 at 6 p.m. The Raiders did not play either of these teams this season.

Maddi Way of Saint Mark’s gets to this ball at Ursuline while moving away from the net.

Saint Mark’s is the fifth seed, a dangerous opponent for anyone along the way. The Spartans’ big guns are Lauren Mehelas and Reagan Garibaldi, who are set up by Maddi Way. They also have a long list of contributors who may not get the headlines.

They’ll host the winner of No. 21 Mount Pleasant at No. 12 MOT Charter. They did not play either team this season. That match is on Nov. 2 at 6 p.m.

The quarterfinals are scheduled for Nov. 6 at times and locations to be announced. The semifinals and championship will be played at the Bob Carpenter Center at the University of Delaware; the semis are on Nov. 11 at times to be announced, and the final will be Nov. 14 at 6 p.m.

Tickets for matches through the semifinals will be available at www.gofan.co/app/school/DIAA, while the semifinals and championship will be sold through www.bluehens.com. All tickets must be purchased online.