Mars Dethrones Hopewell For Schools First AA Volleyball Championship

By: Bruce Markey
Sunday, November 4, 2012 | 1:48 AM

The Mars Planets girls volleyball team came into the championship tournament as the number three seed, they left as the champion after defeating the the Hopewell Vikings 25-22, 25-18, and 25-17. It was the schools first ever Girls Volleyball championship

The two teams were closely matched and the first game was a back and forth affair. For Mars Senior  Katherine Moraca had a great serve and really sparked her team. The teams were tied at 10-10 when Mars slowly took over. The Planets used their front three of Jaden Zimmer, Kelsey Bruce, and Abbey Matusik to their advantage. Every other offensive set would see one of these girls at the net preparing on offensive hit. Hopewell just couldn't match them and the Plantets ran ou to a 18-12 lead. However the Vikings led by seniors Shatori Walker Kimbrough, and  Mackenzie Biggs would come back to tie at 22-22 with solid net defense and limit the Planet attack. In the end however Mars would score the last three points in game one and win 25-22.

In game two the Vikings led early and seemed to right their wrongs and led 7-4. However again the strong Planet offense took over and tied the game at 8-8. They would go up and never look back cruising to a 20-12 lead at one time. Mars defense led by Libero Melanie Dinderman, and the King sisters Emily and Katie helped keep Hopewell off the scoreboard diving and keeping plays alive so the offense would have a chance to get points. The Planets would win game two 25-18 and go up 2-0 in the match

In the third and final game Mars was just to strong defensively, and just too powerful on offense. The Planets took the lead 3-2 and never looked back. They were on a roll and had a 21-10 lead and despite a mini Viking rally held on for a 25-17 win and a 3-0 match sweep.

Dan Mountain's Planet squad would use a 10 girl rotation with 8 seniors and 2 juniors throughout the match. These seniors, most of who played together since they were young stunned the defending champion Vikings and outplayed them in all three games. Their enthusiasm and never give up effort would lead them to the title.

Both Mars and Hopewell will move on the the PIAA state playoffs to begin at sites around the state on Tuesday Novemeber 6th.

Tags: Hopewell