Pope John Paul II takes down Mars to win 3rd straight PIAA volleyball crown

By: Jeffrey Kauffman
Saturday, November 16, 2024 | 9:03 PM

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SILVER SPRING TOWNSHIP — Two-time defending champion Pope John Paul II earned its third consecutive PIAA Class 3A championship with a 3-1 win over upstart Mars at Cumberland Valley High School on Saturday.

Game scores were 25-21, 21-25, 25-16 and 25-18

“I felt much more pressure last year because we had won the year before and had everybody back and we were expected to win,” said Panthers coach Ryan Self. “This year was a different team, where we had a couple of new faces, a couple players who switched roles, and then we had Maeve (Gallagher) and Norah (Busch). I don’t think we were overconfident at all. Mars is an excellent team, and they made us earn it tonight.”

WPIAL champion Mars (21-4) beat Central Mountain, Hampton and Beaver to get into the championship game.

Pope John Paul II (23-0), the District 1 champion, beat Carver E&S, Southern Lehigh and Big Spring to secure their spot for the third year in a row.

Pope John Paul II won 25-21 in Game 1 using a variety of tools, but especially Busch and Gallagher with their height. Josie Arazina was critical as her ability to hit left-handed gave the Fightin’ Planets issues.

Mars jumped out early to a 19-8 lead behind Hailey Duker, but then struggled to maintain the lead in Game 2. Pope John Paul II rallied to within 23-20 as Gallagher, Haley Maloney and Busch kept pounding away. Mars did an excellent job of blocking or getting hands on many of the Panther hits and also battling to keep balls alive.

Pope John Paul II responded in Game 3 by going back to its bread and butter by setting Busch, Gallagher and Arezina. The Panthers ran out to a 7-3, and later a 17-8 lead. The Fightin’ Planets cut the deficit to eight at 24-16 before a controversial net call ended the game. Lily Javor had a huge game for the Planets.

Javor led the way in Game 4 for the Planets with a couple of blocks and a couple of hits through the blocks for points. They led 9-8, but the Panthers took over and extended the lead out to 22-14.

Busch and Gallagher led the way, but Reece Benner was instrumental in directing the attack and Ava and Haley Maloney and Mia Mabley were all over the floor keeping balls alive.

Mars never gave up and was just as solid at keeping balls alive behind Gabi Weidemann, Rylee Woodridge, Javor and Alaina Graham, diving all over the floor. Javor had a big night with ability to hit through or around the height and blocks of the Panthers.

“This team is special and now they have set the bar for Mars volleyball very high,” said coach Tamara Caraway. “We set up a tough schedule to challenge our kids and it showed. We haven’t lost a match since early October. Volleyball comes down to five or so points that determine a game, despite the scores. They got those points tonight. We had a couple of mistakes when we didn’t need them. I am so proud of the way this team has played together and worked so hard.”

Tags: Mars