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A strong finish led Sibley East’s volleyballers to victory Thursday. The third seeded Lady Wolverines defeated #6 Glencoe-Silver Lake in a five game sub-section quarterfinal match at Gaylord.

Scores from the match were 25-19, 25-10, 23-25, 18-25, 15-10.

Chip Wolverton’s Wolverines played solid volleyball in the first two games but a resilient GSL wouldn’t go away easily.

The Panthers were on the attack in games three and four and eventually tied the match. Sibley East bounced back strong in the deciding fifth tilt. An early rally by the Wolverines would prove to be the difference in the match.

“[The Panthers] played extremely well and I was very impressed with their defense and passing,” coach Wolverton said. “They had hands on almost all of our hits and those they didn’t block were dug out by their back row players.”

Wolverton said it was fortunate his team played at a high level, otherwise it could “easily been GSL’s night.” He added that his team will have to continue that level of play to advance further in the tournament.

There were ten lead changes and seven ties for most of the opening game. A winner by sophomore Marie Rose capped a Sibley East run which put the home team on top 21-17. Abby Sharp’s line drive serve then led to an Ashley Martens’ spike which stretched the Wolverine lead to 23-18. That lead would prove to stand and Renae Rose eventually capped the game one victory with an ace serve.

A serving run by Martens highlighted action in game two. GSL jumped out to a 5-3 only to have the Wolverines bounce back to take an 8-6 advantage. Then, with Martens at the service line, Sibley East rattled off 13 straight points. That rally would be too much for GSL to overcome as the Wolverines went up 2-0 in the match.

The Panthers picked up their offensive attack in the third game. They spiked their way to an 18-12 advantage. Sibley East, behind the spiking of Lindsay Thomes, came back and eventually knotted the contest at 20-20. But, GSL proved stronger down the stretch.

It was more solid spiking from the Panthers in the fourth game. Their attack, combined with some hitting mistakes by Sibley East, would force a game five.

With ninth-grader Val Kloeckl serving, the Wolverines opened up the final game with five straight points. GSL would narrow the lead to two points but could get no closer. A pair of spikes by Thomes and nifty tip by Martens would seal the win for the Wolverines.

Thomes led all Sibley East players on the night with a career high 16 kills. Abby Marshall added eight kills for the winners.

Martens was the top server on the night. She was 24 of 26 with four ace serves. Martens also contributed a team high 15 digs.

Kloeckl added two ace serves for the Wolverines while Megan Meyer charted eleven digs. Sophomore Erin Evans finished the game with 24 set assists. She was also 23 of 24 from the service line with one ace.

With the win, Sibley East improves its record to 9-17-1. The Lady Wolverines faced #2 seed Norwood Young America in the sub-section semifinals Tuesday (last night) at Mankato.