Senior setter Mallory Svoboda has been catalyst all season for Dulaney’s volleyball team, and Wednesday was no different.
Svoboda just about staged a clinic in every phrase of the game as the Lions needed only an hour dismantle visiting Kenwood in Class 4A North Region semifinal, 25-8, 25-7, 25-3.
Dulaney, the defending state champs, advances to play at Sherwood at 5 p.m. Friday.
The Lions will take a perfect 17-0 in that game. They’ve only lost one set all season.
“The Sherwood-Howard game is the big one we have really been working towards,” said Svoboda, who finished with 10 kills, seven assists, three blocks and three aces against Kenwood. “We have a reputation to keep up and we know teams really want to take us down. We used every game to get better and better because we know there are harder matches in the future.”
Svoboda got plenty of help from her teammates versus Kenwood (9-8). Juniors Olivia Finckel (14 assists, 5 kills), Rebecca Rawlinson (9 digs, 4 kills, 2 blocks) and seniors Mariah Menguito (9 digs, 3 aces) and Sydney Cohee (5 aces, 4 kills) also made their presence felt.
Menguito got the Lions rolling in the first game. She recorded three aces to start it out as Dulaney jumped out to an 11-0 lead.
Kenwood managed to trim the advantage to 15-6 before the Lions closed with a 10-2 run. Svoboda had a block and kill during that stretch and Rawlinson chipped in two aces.
“I think we were nervous and frustrated,” Kenwood assistant coach Whitney Shaeffer said. “They have a lot of tall girls and club players. We don’t.”
Dulaney had little difficulty winning the second game. With Svoboda, Cohee and Taylor Shafirovich serving, the Lions took a 17-2 lead.
The last game lasted about 15 minutes. Dulaney started fast again, taking a 5-0 lead. Kenwood closed the gap to 7-3 before the Lions reeled off the last 18 points.
“We served well and were alert,” Dulaney coach Cary Lyon said. “There was an opportunity to let up a little bit.”
Lyon said senior Milan Amos, who leads the team with nearly 200 kills, missed the game because of a respiratory illness, but he expects her to play in the regional final.
“I still think we can win,” Lyon said of Amos missing Friday’s match. “But I think we will be hard pressed.”