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.”
The Spartans will not catch anyone off-guard in 2017 as they return a group of talented girls. It all starts tonight at 7:15 p.m. at home against St. Georges Tech.
Aside from Derick, several other seniors occupy the roster, including big hitters Gillian Lytle and Grace Frati, and sophomore Savannah Seemans. The Spartans feature another senior, Grace Sawyer, in the libero position, and a group of role players they are confident are poised for a big season.
“I think we have a lot of potential this year, and we’ve added some really good new girls. It should be really exciting this year,” Derick said.
Seemans said she is encouraged by the chemistry the girls developed over the summer. Several players have moved up from the junior varsity level.
“We’re all really close and good friends, so It’s going to be a great team,” she said.
There are few breathers in St. Mark’s schedule, as the team will be tested come tournament time. In addition to home-and-homes with their Catholic Conference sisters, the Spartans take to the road to meet Wilmington Friends, DMA, Red Lion and Newark Charter. Smyrna, Archmere and Wilmington Charter bring their games to Milltown.
The Spartans expect success, but the goal, Derick said, is “to make every win and every loss positive.”
