Germantown Academy's volleyball team hasn't faced significant challenges in most of its matches this fall. In one of their closer contests, the Patriots downed defending Pa. Independent Schools champ Notre Dame, 3-1, on their way to a 9-0 record at the end of September.

After starting October with a 3-0 win over Agnes Irwin last Tuesday to reach a record of 4-0 within the Inter-Ac League, GA expected a battle in the following day's non-league contest against Mount St. Joseph Academy.

The first set lived up to the match's billing, with the teams going neck-and-neck most of the way until Germantown scored the final two points to win it, 25-22.

In the end, though, the Patriots would wind up with another 3-0 match victory, taking the next two sets, 25-11, 25-20. GA raised its overall record to 11-0 as a result, while the Mount Magic left with a 10-5 mark.

In an Athletic Association of Catholic Academies encounter the previous week, the Mount lost, 3-1, to a highly-regarded Villa Maria club, and the Magic had posted a lot of points even in the sets they lost. When they went to GA last Wednesday, the Mounties were coming directly off of a 3-0 sweep of Lansdale Catholic.

The match started out with Germantown Academy scoring on a block by senior Shae Sawyer-St. Clair and a hit by junior Hadley Evans, and the Mount answering with a hit and an unreturned serve by sophomore Gabby Clair. After the score was tied at 6-6, GA senior Kaitlyn Pokorny served for four straight points, with junior Caroline Smith registering a kill along the way.

The Magic battled back to tie the set at 15-all on a block by junior Lauren Montgomery, then they edged ahead with a kill by freshman Greta Swope. After a 19-19 tie, GA went ahead thanks to a Mount blocking error and a hit by Evans. In a later rally featuring an impressive save by the Patriots, Evans sent the ball to the floor to put the Pats up by three points, 23-20.

The visitors got back within one, 23-22, then served the ball out over the baseline. A hit by Pokorny ended the set at 25-22.

Spectators settled in for what looked to be a long match, but the Mounties seemed to lose confidence during the second set. GA scored the first four points and in the middle of the set there was still a four-point spread at 13-9.

Over the next few minutes, the Patriots took control with an 8-1 run that featured scoring at the net from Pokorny and sophomore Abby Traina, and several GA serves that the Mount could not return. The set ended at 25-11 on a hit by Smith that went out-of-bounds off of a Magic block.

Mount St. Joe revived after that, and in the middle of the third set the teams were locked up at 12-12. Later the scoreboard was leveled at 17-all, then the Magic picked up points on a tip and a GA error, causing the hosts to call time-out.

Germantown drew even (19-19) with a hit by Smith and an MSJ hit out over the baseline, then the visitors edged ahead again, 20-19, on a kill by Clair. GA's Smith tied it with a kill, and then the Pats moved ahead when the Magic couldn't return a serve by sophomore Emily Pokorny (Kaitlin's sister).

Patriots freshman Delaney Schwartz had a kill, and when the Magic hit the ball up into a rafter for another GA point, they called time-out, trailing 23-20. Another belt by Smith got the Patriots to the brink of set point, then a combined attack by Kaitlyn Pokorny and Sawyer-St. Clair ended the match.