COLLEGE PARK — — Dulaney's perfect season continued in impressive fashion Wednesday in the Class 4A volleyball state semifinals here at the University of Maryland's Ritchie Coliseum.
The No. 1 Lions (19-0) swept High Point 25-15, 25-12, 25-15 and advanced to the state championship match on Saturday at 2:30 p.m against Severna Park.
It will be the Lions' first trip to the state championship since 2005 when they lost in the state finals.
Dulaney's last state title was 2000 when they won the second of back-to-back championships.
The Lion attack was led by senior Darla Svoboda (17 kills) and junior Milan Amos (8 kills).
Defensively, senior libero Melaney Nicholls had a strong passing match and her serves set the tone in each of the first two sets.
In the first set, she had back-to-back aces when the Lions built a 5-0 lead.
Later in the set, Nichols had two more aces when they stretched an 11-7 lead to 15-7.
Svoboda had five kills in the opening set and her sophomore sister Mallory added a kill and block.
In the second set, Nichols served for seven straight points early in the match and the Eagles (14-3) had poor serve receives on five of them.
"Melaney played very well," Dulaney coach Cary Lyon said. "I can always count on her doing good stuff."
Darla Svoboda had seven kills in the second set and added five kills and three aces in the final set.
Senior setter Alexis Howatt ran the offense in the first two sets and Mallory Svoboda set in the final one, with Ce Ce Ukejanya contributing a pair of kills from the middle.