The Mustangs entered the Section 5AA Tournament as the #6 seed. They faced Spectrum at home in the second round and defeated them 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-14). The win advanced the Mustangs to the quarterfinals where they would head to face #3 Providence Academy.
Maranatha got off to a hot start as they led the Lions by a score of 16-13 in the first set, but the Lions went on a four point run to take the lead 17-16. The teams went back and forth with the Mustangs having multiple set point chances to win. Maranatha couldn’t put the ball away and Jada Preston-Harris got the set winning kill for the Lions.
Maranatha started to build confidence in the second set as they jumped out to a big 18-9 lead and easily won the second set. The third set was much of the same with the Mustangs leading the entire set to go up 2-1.
Providence refused to stop competing and took back control in the fourth to force a deciding fifth set.
Providence got on the board first and went up 2-0, but the Mustangs rallied back to go up 6-4. After a timeout and down 6-7, the Lions went on a five point serving run to take a 12-7 lead and eventually get the 3-2 win (28-26, 17-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-9) to advance to the semifinals.
“I said early in the season on media day that Providence Academy was going to be the team to beat in Section 5AA. They have experienced setters and solid athletic hitters all across the net. We knew that we would have to play our best volleyball of the season and our coaching staff would have to be locked in to beat them. I’m proud of how our girls competed and put us in a position to win. Providence just made big plays in big moments that we didn’t make. A highlight for me was seeing so many of our fans fill the stands to support our girls. We are starting to build something special at Maranatha with our volleyball program and I expect to be competing in the section final within the next few years”, said head coach Drew Rongere.
Outside hitters, Maia Marvel (20) and Emma Haarstad (19), led the team in kills and libero, Ashley Yost, led the team with 32 digs. Alexa Moscoso ran the offense and put up 38 assists.
Despite the loss, Maranatha had an excellent season, breaking another school record with 20 wins and an overall record of 20-10. They graduate six seniors and will be a fairly young team in 2025 but look to continue to build on the success the Mustangs have had the last two seasons.
