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2001 State Volleyball Tournament

The Championship Game
November 10, 2001

St. Marks 15,10,15  St. Elizabeth 13,15,11

St. Marks (21-1)       15 10 15 
St. Elizabeth (19-3)  13 15 11

St. Elizabeth: Dana Olmstead 11 kills, 16 digs, 4 blocks; Ashley Carberry 8 kills; Shea Haney 8 kills; Dana Cushing 37 assists, 14, digs; Clare Phillips 26 digs, 10 perfect passes; Kelley Bradley 6 kills; Adrienne Melvin 23 digs; Kelly Nepi 13 digs, 11 perfect passes; Lindsey Mullen 9 digs; Ashley Hultberg 3 digs
St. Marks: Liz Hubbard 15 kills, 11 digs, 9 perfect passes; Lauren McNulty 10 kills; Angela Papili 32 assists, 17 digs; Ashli Den Hoed 5 kills, 14 digs, 6 perfect passes; Lauren Strong 18 digs, 12 perfect passes; Kelly Bree 8 digs, 7 perfect passes, 3 aces; Maggie Radulski 4 digs; Dana DiSario 6 digs.

The Teams

The St. Marks Spartans

Head Coach: Nancy Griskowitz  
Assistant Coaches: Tim Neal, Lori Mitchell, John Mizzer, Brian Taylor

St. Elizabeth Vikings

Head Coach: Mary Pay Kwoka
Assistant Coaches: Nancy Melvin, Michelle Burrows, Chantel Daunno

An Unpredictable Evening

by Marshal Manlove
Editor

NEWARK- For the first time in a few years the outcome of this state championship isn't so easy to predict.
The three-time defending champions from St. Marks lost their only regular season game in four years to the team they need to beat tonight to enter "The Dynasty Zone" (four championships in a row.)
Spartan head coach Nancy Grisgowitz did a great job getting leading this team to a 20-1 record. The Spartans were crushed with graduations from a year ago and were left with only one returning starter, senior middle Liz Hubbard. The Spartans filled the setter spot with junior Angela Papili and the outside with Ashli DenHoed and Lauren McNulty, all sisters of former state champions as well, and proceeded to run a couple basic offenses to get them here this evening.
There are no secrets here. The Spartans feed Hubbard as often as they can and if and until their opponents manage to stop her. If that happens, they head outside to DenHoed, a little less often to McNulty, and then go to celebrate victories.

But there was one night when the Spartans didn't celebrate a victory and that was when the Vikings hosted them in their brand new gym. 
The two teams split the regular season series, although a particularly bad defensive night cost the Vikes what should have been their second win against the Spartans in Pike Creek.
No matter now, if the Vikings get that second win against St. Marks tonight, it will be the only one that truly matters.
Head Coach Mary Pat Kwoka did her usual fantastic coaching job with this program. This is a well rounded team from front to back which has the height advantage tonight.
Although the Vikings have never won a state championship, Kwoka was the first coach to lead an Ursuline Academy nteam to a state title back in 1991.
The Vikings play solid positional defense and have several solid options on offense.
Dana Olmstead is the go-to girl percentage wise, and co-captain Clare Phillips plays a little of everything. Ashley Carberry, Kelley Bradley, and Shea Haney are all 5'10" and will be the trio of Vikes called on to stop Liz Hubbard and her long arms from blasting points for St. Marks. Haney, in particular, has done the best job blocking Hubbard one on one.
Dana Cushing is the setter for St. Elizabeths who has distributed the ball evenly and effectively.

Look for a three-game match tonight if both teams are in top form. The true intangible factor in this match is experience, which the Spartans have. If they take advantage of that, they will win. However, if the Vikings can control their emotions and play with confidence from the very first serve, we will see a new state champion somewhere around 9:45 p.m. this evening at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark. 

Semifinal Results

St. Marks 15,15  Ursuline 5,7

St. Elizabeth 15,15  Archmere 12,7

Second Round Results

Ursuline 15,15  Charter 10,7

Charter: Sarnecky 21; Sanders 2 pp, 3 digs, 5 kills; Douglas 8 pp, 2 digs, 7 kills; Smith 2 digs, 6 kills; BEnson 6 pp, 4 digs; Busch 3 digs.
Ursuline: Ferguson 5 kills, 3 digs, 3 blocks; Mills 6 kills, 4 blocks; Razze 4 kills, 11 digs, 7 pp; Stroh 4 kills, 3 blocks; Pawlikowski 3 kills; Skibinski 4 digs, 3 pp, 2 aces; Hultberg 5 digs, 5 pp; McBride 14 assists, 2 digs; McMahon 6 assists, 2 digs.

St. Elizabeth 15,15   Padua 5,12

Padua: Lort 6 kills, 7 blocks; Kardine 5 kills 11 pp; Whitmarch 17 pp, 12 digs; Cushing 9 digs, 33 assists; Haney 7 kills; Melvin 7 digs; Nepi 7 digs; Mullen 19 digs; Olmstead 7 kills, 4 digs; 3 blocks; Carberry 3 kills

Archmere 15,15  A.I. duPont 11,6

Archmere: Healy 11 kills, 5 digs; Rowe 9 kills, 6 dogs; Horenburger 6 digs, 5 kills; Chrzanowski 8 kills, 4 digs; Burke 4 kills, 3 digs; Meany 10 digs; Seitz 30 assists, 4 digs
A.I. duPont: L. Burke 12, 4 pp; Gast 5 blocks, 9 pp, 4 kills; Viohl 5 kills, 6 pp; M. Burke 7 assists, 4 pp, 4 kills; Dugan 4 digs, 5 pp; O'Byrne 3 kills, 2 blocks

St. Marks 15,15   Newark 3,4

Newark: Nahodil 2 digs, 2 kills; Mitchell 5 digs; McLaughlin 3 digs, 2 pp; Pieniaszek 2 digs; Walker 3 digs, 2 blocks; Finkley 2 digs, 3 pp
St. Marks: Strong 5 digs, 4 pp; McNulty 4 kills; Denhoed 5 kills; Papili 18 assist; Hubbard 7 kills, 3 pp; Radulski 5 kills, DiSario 7 digs

The Vikings advance to the semifinal round

By David A. Willauer, Staff Reporter

Wilmington-  The St. Elizabeth's Vikings have advanced to the semi final round of the 2001 Delaware State High School Volleyball Tournament by defeating Catholic Conference rival Padua Academy by game scores of 15-5, 15-12.

"It was a hard fought battle my kids pulled out some extra heart and we won.  The kids worked hard all year for me. It's a thrill to be in the semifinals but it's definitely not going to be easy.  I think the top four teams in the state are going to the Bob,"  said Mary Pat Kwoka, St. Elizabeth's head coach.

"In the second set we worked on a couple of defenses and I was throwing different sets so Padua couldn't get comfortable with what we were doing and my kids executed brilliantly. They stayed low, pulled in a little deeper (and) they fought. My bench stayed with us the entire game; it was a team effort."

"When Ashley Melvin served the game winning point to win 15-12, it was very crucial because she was my last sub.My front would have consisted of a 5-1 or a 5-2 and 5-5 if we could have gone into three more rotations we would have been in trouble."

"We will play Archmere and they have one of the best teams in the state.  Bill Strickland, Archmere's coach runs a quick offense like I do so we have our work cut out for us.  Playing Archmere is like CATHOLIC CONFERENCE HOLY WARS. It's volleyball at its best."

Semifinals are November 8 at a site to be determined

Championship matches are November 10 at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark
The Third Place Game is at 7 p.m. with the Championship Game to follow

November 3, 2001

Saturday's First Round
At McKean
#8 Newark (12-4) vs #9 Dickinson (10-9) at 6:30
#1 St. Marks (17-1) vs #16 St. Thomas More (8-8) following

At St. Elizabeth
#5 Charter (16-2) vs #12 Caesar Rodney (15-4) at 6:30
#4 Ursuline (12-4) vs #13 Brandywine (10-6) following

At Brandywine
#2 St. Elizabeth (16-2) vs #15 Christiana (9-7) at 6:30
#7 Padua (6-9) vs #10 Caravel (12-4) following

At Friends
#3 A.I. duPont (18-1) vs #14 Tower Hill (12-6) at 6:30
#6 Archmere (12-6) vs #11 Hodgson (11-8) following

First Round Results

St. Marks 15,15  St. Thomas More 4,0
  
St. Thomas More: Clougherty 2 digs, 2 kills, 5 assists; DiMondi 2 digs; Stewart 4 digs
St. Marks: McNulty 6 kills; DenHoed 5 kills, 2 perfect passes; Papili 14 assists, 2 kills; Hunnard 6 kills, 3 perfect passes.

Archmere 15,13,15  Hodgson 12,15,6

Archmere: Healy 7 kills, 5 digs; Rowe 5 kills, 4 digs; Horenburger 4 kills, 4 digs; Chrzanowski 3 kills; Burke 6 digs; Meany 23 assist; Lein 2 digs
Hodgson: Davis 8 kills; Word 7 kills; Janvier 6 kills; Austin 19 assists, 4 kills, 4 digs; Brandshaw 5 kills, 12 perfect passes, 4 digs; Slifer 12 assists.

Ursuline 15,15  Brandywine 1,1

Brandywine: Alfonsi 3 digs; Nepi 2 digs
Ursuline: Ferguson 8 kills, 2 perfect passes, 4 kills; Mills 4 kills, 3 blocks; Storh 3 kills, 5 digs, 3 perfect passes; Razze 2 kills, 6 digs, 4 perfect passes; McBride 12 assists, 2 aces; McMahon 5 assists, 2 aces.

Charter 15,15  Caesar Rodney 5,12

Caesar Rodney: Casarotto 8 perfect passes, 4 kills; Jilek 4 perfect passes, 2 blocks, 3 kills; Walker 4 blocks, 2 kils; Knight 3 perfect passes; Howard 3 perfect passes
Charter: Douglas 7 kills, 3 perfect passes,2 blocks, 4 digs; Sanders 10 kills, 3 perfect passes, 5 digs; Sarnecky 17 assists, 2 digs; Stadnik 2 kills, 2 perfect passes, 3 digs; Benson 5 perfect passes, 2 digs; Smith 4 kills, 6 digs

Newark 15, 15   Dickinson 5,13

Dickinson: Acteson 10 assists, 2 aces; McCain 6 perfect passes, 5 digs; Sammons 9 kills, 6 perfect passes, 10 didgs; Snyder 3 kills, 5 perfect passes, 2 blocks, 5 digs, 6 aces; Co. Spadaro 3 assists, 4 digs; Cline 2 blocks; Immediato 2 perfect passes; Lankford 2 kills, 3 perfect passes, 2 blocks, 2 digs; Marvian 2 kills, 2 perfect passes; Pownall-Brown 3 digs; Cl. Spadaro 6 assists
Newark: Nahodil 9 assists 3 digs; Mitchell 2 kills, 7 digs; McLaughlin 3 kills, 3 blocks, 6 digs, 2 perfect passes; Walker 5 kills, 3 blocks, 2 digs; Finkley 5 digs; Denver 3 assists, 3 digs

A.I. duPont 15,10,15  Tower Hill 3,15,2

Tower Hill: D'Alonzo 12 kills, 13 perfect passes; Pierce 5 kills, 9 perfect passes; Qualls 10 digs, 8 perfect passes; Fulweiler 20 assists; Baetjer 8 digs, 9 aces; Fortunato 6 digs; Johson 2 kills
A.I. duPont: Viohl 10 kills, 9 digs; Gast 4 kills, 4 digs; L. Burke 4 kills, 6 digs; M. Burke 10 assists; Ross 9 assists; Dugan 7 perfect passes; O'Byrne 3 kills

St. Elizabeth 2  Christiana 0

Christiana: Freel 14 digs, 3kills; Santo 10 perfect passes, 6 digs, 2 kills, 2 aces; Powell 7 digs, 9 assists; Todd 2 perfect passes, 4 digs; Williams 3 digs, 3 kills
St. Elizabeth: Phillips 7 digs, 7 kills, 5 perfect passes; Cushing 20 assists, 4 digs, 2 kills; Bradley 8 digs, 4 kills, 2 perfect passes; Nepi 2 aces, 9 digs, 5 perfect passes; Olmstead 3 digs, 6 kills, 2 perfect passes.

Padua 2  Caravel 0
boxscores unavailable

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