WILMINGTON — Padua tied Saint Mark’s with a 25-21 win over the Spartans in the teams’ volleyball showdown on Oct. 22, but things weren’t looking too great for the Pandas a short time later.
The Spartans got a huge third set from Reagan Garibaldi on the way to a comfortable win, and they held a four-point lead in the fourth with victory in sight. But Padua stormed back to take the fourth, and the Pandas came out on fire in the fifth to seal a 3-2 win in front of a large, loud crowd on senior night at Padua.
Set scores were 21-25, 25-21, 14-25, 25-21, and 15-7.
Garibaldi did it all for Saint Mark’s in the third. She had several kills and a few blocks as the lead continued to grow. Lauren Mehelas (St. Margaret of Scotland Parish) ended the set with a smash that quieted the Padua faithful.
The Pandas jumped out to a four–point lead early in the fourth with the help of consecutive aces from Hannah McGuigan (St. Anthony of Padua Parish). But after the hosts took a 7-3 lead, the Spartans responded with a 9-1 run. Adriana Morris played a key role, contributing a kill and a pair of aces once she rotated into the serve. A Morris block a few minutes later put Saint Mark’s ahead, 17-13, prompting a timeout by the Pandas.
Padua scored the first two points out of the break before a Mehelas kill. A Cierra Burslem (Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish) attack was blocked out of bounds, however, beginning a match-changing stretch for Padua. Avery Pilger (St. John’s-Holy Angels Parish) continued a superb night with a kill, and Josalyn Carter smoked a shot off the Spartans’ defense. After a timeout, Kaitlyn Leberstien (St. Mary of the Assumption Parish) kept the run going with an ace — one of three she would deliver during an 11-1 run — before Burslem scored on a kill. The Spartans saved three set points, making things interesting, before committing a net violation.
That set up a fifth set between the teams for the second time this season. When they met on Sept. 17 at Saint Mark’s, the Spartans rebounded after losing the first two sets for a victory.
An early 4-0 run, capped by an ace from Abigail Madigan, staked Padua to a 5-1 lead. Ashley Strohmeier (St. Margaret of Scotland Parish) got a point back for the Spartans, but Leberstien scored two of the next four points, all of which went to the Pandas, to extend the lead to seven. The teams traded points until it was 13-7, but Padua scored the final two, with the winner coming on an ace from Pilger.
Final statistics were not available late Tuesday night. Padua (10-4) wraps up the regular season on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Ursuline. Saint Mark’s (11-3) also closes at Ursuline; they play the Raiders on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Both teams figure to receive high seeds in the upcoming state tournament.