Mars girls volleyball loses to Pope John Paul II in first PIAA championship appearance
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Mars girls volleyball team huddles together ahead of their game against Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars volleyball coach Tamara Caraway hangs medals on her players' necks after their loss against Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Lily Javor reacts to the team's loss against Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Ella Nicotra spikes the ball against Pope John Paul in a PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game at Cumberland Valley High School on Saturday, Nov. 16. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle (11/16/2024)
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Hailey Duker reacts to the teams loss against Pope John Paul in a PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game at Cumberland Valley High School on Saturday, Nov. 16. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle (11/16/2024)
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Lily Javor spikes the ball against Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Rylee Wooldridge spikes the ball against Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Lily Javor reacts to the team's loss against Pope John Paul in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Ella Nicotra reacts to the team's loss against Pope John Paul in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Lily Javor reacts to the team's loss against Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Lily Javor leads a team huddle while playing Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Gabi Weidemann, left, Rylee Wooldridge and Ella Nicotra react to a referee's call in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game against Pope John Paul II on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars was defeated by Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Lily Javor receives her medal after the team's loss against Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
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Mars' Gabi Weidemann, left, Lily Javor, center, and Alaina Graham embrace after their team's loss against Pope John Paul II in the PIAA Class 3A girls volleyball championship game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2024, at Cumberland Valley High School. Morgan Phillips/Butler Eagle
SILVER SPRING TWP, Cumberland County — The Mars girls volleyball team showed flashes Saturday afternoon, glimpses of the kind of play the Planets needed to sustain to knock off a two-time defending state champion.
But consistency against Pope John Paul II is very difficult to achieve, and the Planets spent most of the afternoon searching in vain for it, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Golden Panthers in the PIAA Class 3A championship game at Cumberland Valley High School.
Mars fell to 21-5 on the season by scores of 21-25, 25-21, 17-25 and 18-25.
The Panthers (24-0) capped their third straight perfect season.
“We just didn’t have the kind of runs that we needed,” Mars coach Tami Caraway said. “We pushed back and we went out hard, but there were times today when it seemed that our girls were trying to do everything at once.”
The apex of Mars’ first ever trip to the state final came in the second set, when they built an 11-1 advantage, putting the Panthers in a very unfamiliar spot.
Blocks from Cecilia Christy (10 kills) and Rylee Wooldridge and an ace from Ella Nicotra contributed to the 9-0 run. Freshman setter Gabi Weidemann finished with 33 assists on the evening.
“After dropping the first set, we needed that,” Wooldridge said. “Facing a team that had won 73 straight games, that was huge.”
Even though his team lost the set, Panthers coach Ryan Sell saw improved play.
“We had some uncharacteristic hitting errors in the first set, and they carried over into the second,” he said. “Mars put a bunch of pressure on us, and I called a timeout. We weren’t going to win the set, but I told the girls to focus on winning one point at a time, try building some momentum into the third.”
The Panthers trailed by 10 points early in the second set, but lost by just four. And they were fast out of the gate in the third, with Maeve Gallagher and Josie Arezina tallying a combined 10 kills to help their team take a 2-1 set lead.
Norah Busch, a 6-foot-2 junior middle hitter and North Carolina State commit, had a team-leading 18 kills for the Panthers.
“There were times when we were able to slow her down, but they had others who stepped up,” Caraway said.
That included Gallagher (15 kills) and Arezina (10).
Lily Javor paced Mars with 13 kills, 11 of them coming in the third and fourth set. The Planets were even with the Panthers at 9-9 in the fourth when Busch and Gallagher began dropping kills, each one pushing the Planets further away from a state championship.
Sell was impressed with Mars’ effort.
“They have a great libero (Alaina Graham), a great setter (Weidemann) and a bunch of kids who challenge you at the net,” he said.
Mars tallied 31 digs in the match.
“That’s about 25% of what we usually have,” Caraway said. “This was the first time our girls had played in a state championship. They (Panthers) have been here before. I think our lack of experience had an effect on us today.”
It was a sour ending to an otherwise sweet ride for the Planets.
“This was our first time to the state championship, and I’m so proud of what we accomplished,” Wooldridge said. “Hopefully, it can inspire future teams at Mars.”
