Dialog reporter
WOODCREST – St. Mark’s battled in its boys volleyball match at Conrad, but the Red Wolves had too much firepower and swept the Spartans, 3-0, on the afternoon of May 10.
St. Mark’s – who dressed just seven players – had few answers for the Red Wolves’ Logan Muller. The senior hitter led a potent attack with 12 kills, and he threw in a block for good measure. John Hoopes had four kills, while Nicholas Shortlidge added three.
Conrad opened with a 3-0 lead, but the Spartans fought back for a short-lived tie. The Red Wolves, with Shortlidge on the serve, ran off the next 12 points to grab control. The final two points of the run came on an ace, followed by a smash by Muller.
The Spartans fell behind by as many 15 and were behind, 24-12, when Conrad reached set point. The Spartans’ Benjamin Korelski scored, then John Mouser stuffed an overpass. An ace for St. Mark’s Timothy Rubini marked the third set point the Spartans fought off, but Muller blasted a shot off the block for the 25-15 win.
The teams played an even set in the second until an eight-point run put the Red Wolves on top, 16-8. The Spartans defended set point twice in this one, but an unforced error gave the home team a 25-14 triumph.
Everything fell the Red Wolves’ way in the third set, with serves tipping the tape and balls bouncing just inside end lines. Muller backed away from his blasts earlier in the match and found the floor with a soft kill to make it 22-8, and Shortlidge wrapped up the afternoon with three straight aces, including the final one that hit the top of the net and climbed over.
With the win, Conrad finished the regular season at 10-2, its only losses in the eight-team league coming to undefeated Salesianum.
Kevin Orzada led the Spartans with four kills, while Mouser had three blocks. The Spartans wrapped up their season at 2-10.
