The Luxemburg-Casco volleyball team could not solve the front line of Catholic Memorial Saturday night, falling in straight sets (18-25, 10-25, 22-25) in the WIAA Division 2 State Championship.

 

The Spartans never held a lead in the match until the third set and only forced three tied scores during the match. A big reason why was the Crusaders' front line, which posted eight team blocks compared to just three for the Spartans. The Crusaders' attack was just as strong, posting a hitting percentage that never dipped below .230 compared to the Spartans' numbers that never climbed above .190.

In the first set, the Crusaders had two runs of four straight points to set themselves apart from the Spartans. It was similar in the second set when the Crusaders went on a pair of 6-0 runs to put the Spartans in the unenviable position of being down 2-0. 

The Spartans scored six of the first seven points in the third set before the Crusaders began to chip away. They would later flip the script as they scored seven of eight points, turning a 9-6 deficit into an 11-9 advantage. The Spartans tightened the set late, but a service error ended the threat and gave them their second silver ball in program history. Head coach Jeff Frey said after the game that he felt his team played well but that Catholic Memorial just played much better that night.

The Spartans were led by Campbell Onell (seven kills, two service aces), Isabella Vandervelden (six kills, two service aces), Aubrey Frey (six kills, 13 digs), Alayna Deprez (22 assists), and Rylan Kaminski (14 digs).

 

 

Picture by Ron LeCloux