For The Dialog
MILLTOWN – St. Mark’s, currently ranked eighth in the state in volleyball, pulled off an early upset, outlasting No. 4 Wilmington Friends in five sets on Sept. 13. The Spartans took an intense match by scores of 25-7, 18-25, 23-25, 25-21 and 18-16.
St Mark’s started strong in the first set, thanks to some early kills by Gillian Lytle and Erin Derick, as they went up, 13-6. They ended the set on a 12-1 run behind the serving game of Grace Frati, who had four aces in the final nine points.
In the second set, St. Mark’s again jumped out to a lead, this one at 8-5, with freshman Savannah Seemans contributing two thunderous kills and three assists. But the Quakers got the Nathan sisters going, as Alyssa set up younger sibling Dani for a kill. Friends was up, 16-12, when Dani had three straight kills, and the Quakers went on to tie the match at a set each.
The third set was back-and-forth, but St. Mark’s took a two-point lead at 23-21 on a kill by Derick. Seemans appeared to send it to set point on a kill, but after the officials huddled, the play was ruled a double hit to make it 23-22. The Quakers scored the next three points for the set win and a 2-1 lead.
The teams continued going back and forth into the fourth, but St. Mark’s used a Seemans kill to take a 201-6 advantage. Derick ended that set with a crushing kill.
Derick’s most important kill came in the decisive fifth. Friends was up, 16-15, when Derick, who looked like she was going to set up Seemans, instead flicked the ball into an empty spot.
“Coach Danielle Williams told me to dump the ball over, and I thought that was a good time to do it,” she said.
Derick, who finished with 12 kills, two blocks and 24 assists, ended the lengthy match with a powerful kill and spoke afterward of her team’s effort.
“We’re not going to stop,” she said. “We are going to fight to the end and we are going to put our strongest effort forward.”
Seemans added 11 kills, three blocks and 23 assists. St. Mark’s (1-0) travels to Smyrna for a 5 p.m. start on Friday. Danielle Nathan led the Quakers with 27 kills and 19 digs, while Alyssa Nathan had 22 digs and 45 assists. Friends hosts No. 2 Padua on Thursday night at 6:45 p.m.
