The Garden Spot Spartans knew they had at least one more week of volleyball to play - no question about that.

The questions that did loom, however, were how well would they play that week and how many more weeks of volleyball would the Spartans compete in?

Having defeated Lancaster Mennonite back on May 24 in the District Three Class 2A quarterfinals, the Spartans had earned a spot in the PIAA 2A state playoffs.

Despite a 3-0 loss to York Suburban two days later in the district semifinals, the Spartans bounced back to defeat Lancaster-Lebanon League rival Manheim Central in the district consolation game 3-0.

In that Thursday evening match played at Garden Spot, the Barons played three tough sets and came up short in each one - 25-18, 27-25, 25-22.

Laine King scored 13 kills for Garden Spot while Jordan Martin had a huge match - 37 assists, two blocks and two aces. Tyler Martin finished with 18 digs.

Blake Wagner led Central with 15 kills and two blocks.

Therefore, the Spartans entered the state playoffs as the third seed from District Three. They defeated Palumbo Academy out of Philadelphia 3-0 on Tuesday, June 1 in a match played at Schuylkill Valley High School.

With scores of 25-10, 25-8 and 25-18, the Spartans dominated Palumbo, not leaving any loose ends. The win advanced them to the state quarterfinals to face...? Yes, Manheim Central again.

Tanner Laukhuff had eight kills and scorched six aces for the Spartans while Tyler Martin finished with 13 digs. Jordan Martin, who had one block, distributed 24 assists. Griffin Witmer added three kills. Garden Spot improved to 19-3 overall.

Central, meanwhile, redeemed itself for the loss to Garden Spot by defeating Holy Redeemer in an exciting five-set match (25-17, 29-27, 24-26, 21-25, 15-9).