Mars volleyball, facing ‘pressure’ as WPIAL champ and state runner-up, fends off fierce Freeport effort

September 23, 2025 Last Updated: September 23, 2025 10:52 PM Sports

Mars volleyball players Gabi weidemann (9), Rylee Wooldridge (5) and Alaina Graham (13) celebrate after their win over Freeport in a girls volleyball game Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, at Freeport Middle School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle

Eddie Clancy

BUFFALO TWP — Mars girls volleyball had swept its way to four straight WPIAL Section 2-3A victories and appeared to be headed for a fifth.

The Planets grabbed the first two sets at Freeport Tuesday night before dropping their first in section play to a feisty Yellowjackets squad.

Mars, the defending WPIAL champion and state runner-up, then wrestled free from a tight fourth set to claim a 3-1 win at Freeport Middle School.

“We know that they’re always going to be prepared and they never quit,” Mars coach Tami Caraway said of the Yellowjackets. “We play our best when we’re relaxed, and I think in that third set we were thinking too much about our mistakes.”

Mars (8-2, 5-0) prevailed by set scores of 25-15, 26-24, 22-25 and 25-16.

Freeport turned a late 20-16 deficit in the third set into a victory thanks in part to kills from Nina Pagano and Emily Boylan and a clutch block from Jayme Radvan.

The hosts’ energy carried into the fourth set, but Rylee Wooldridge’s right arm accounted for three of the Planets’ seven straight points to end the match.

Mars senior Cecilia Christy taps the ball over two Freeport blockers in a girls volleyball game Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2025, at Freeport Middle School. Eddie Clancy/Special to the Eagle

Eddie Clancy

Mars senior Cece Christy, who tallied 11 kills and four blocks, said the team can feel the weight of coming off such a successful 2024.

“The pressure is there to uphold what we did last year,” she said. “But we use it as motivation to work hard.”

Freeport (6-3, 3-2) has made the district playoffs 24 consecutive seasons, but the ’Jackets are still learning to find their way this fall.

“We are very young, have 11 freshmen, and there are times we have four sophomores and two freshmen on the court,” veteran Freeport coach Tom Phillips said. “Volleyball is such a game of momentum, and if you allow the other team to take it, that can be deadly.

“We have to learn to fight through adversity, and we’re searching for a leader.”

Wooldridge tallied 10 of her game-high 22 kills in the first two sets. Christy’s kill ended the second set and earned for Mars a commanding 2-0 set advantage.

Most of the plays being made for Mars are by girls who were integral to last year’s playoff run. An exception is junior libero/defensive specialist Sabrina Ruiz-Gonzales, who was far from a liability against Freeport.

“She has played very well for us and brings great energy to the court,” Caraway said.

Sophomore setter Gabi Weidemann dished out 44 assists for the Planets.

Boylan and Evie Tola both had nine kills for the Yellowjackets, who will get a chance to avenge Tuesday’s defeat when they visit Mars Oct. 16.