Girls volleyball team No. 1 in N.J.

The Sparta High School girls volleyball team remained undefeated this season and did it in style, handing then-No. 1 ranked Immaculate Heart Academy a straight-set defeat Tuesday, Oct. 10 in Washington Township.

With the win, the Spartans, now 16-0, have ascended to the No. 1 designation in the state. IHA, now 20-1, fell to No. 2.

Sparta defeated IHA, 25-21, 25-18, in a match that originally was scheduled for Sparta but switched to the Bergen County school in the final hours before the contest.

Leading the way for Sparta were Giselle Faria (10 service points, eight assists, four digs, six aces), Aralyn Saulys (10 assists, six digs, five service points, three kills, one block, one ace), Payton Simpson (10 digs, six kills, one block, one assist, one service point), Lea Tsamadias (seven digs, five kills, three service points, one ace), Sylvia Prydzial (three kills, two blocks, two digs, three service points, two aces), Haley Maher (12 digs, two assists, one service point), Tara Keller (seven kills, one dig, one assist) and Emma Kristiansen (two digs, one kill, one block).

Sparta is seeded first overall and is scheduled to host a Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex Tournament quarterfinal Thursday, Oct. 19.

Here’s how other Sparta teams fared last week:

Boys soccer

The fifth-seeded Spartans dropped a 3-1 decision to fourth-seeded Voorhees in the quarterfinal round of the H/W/S Tournament on Friday afternoon, Oct. 13 in Glen Gardner.

Kyle Enderle scored Sparta’s lone goal off a feed from Patrick Connors.

Sparta (6-6) had advanced to the quarterfinals with a 3-2 victory over 12th-seeded Warren Hills in a first-round game Oct. 11.

Conners had a goal and an assist and Tobias Gomez and Quint Flannery also scored for the Spartans, which received five saves from Chris Munoz.

Girls soccer

Sparta, top-seeded for the H/W/S Tournament, defeated ninth-seeded Phillipsburg, 7-1, in a quarterfinal round match Oct. 13 at home.

Abigail Pierson and Juliana Dolinski each had two goals and an assist; Ingrid Brevig added a goal and an assist; and Abigail Rodek and Adriana Dolinski also scored a goal, with Abigail Connors totaling two assists.

Riley Molbury (nine saves) and Sam Vasquez (one save) anchored the defense.

Sparta (9-2) is scheduled to host fourth-seeded Voorhees in a H/W/S semifinal Tuesday, Oct. 17, with a trip to the championship game at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 at home.

Field hockey

Sparta dropped a 1-0 setback to Mount Olive there Saturday, Oct. 14.

Orianna Bennett made nine saves in goal for the Spartans.

Sophia Candeloro leads Sparta in scoring with seven goals and five assists.

Sparta (8-5) is scheduled to play host to Kittatinny at 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20 before playing at Chatham at 11 a.m. Oct. 21.

Girls tennis

The Spartans earned a 3-2 victory at Randolph in their 2023 season finale there Thursday, Oct. 12.

At first singles, Scarlet Matteson defeated Ava Pinho, 1-6, 6-0, 13-11. The first doubles team of Sara Schwarz and McKaela Reekie pulled out a three-set win (4-6, 6-1, 10-3) in its first doubles win. Emily Dondero also won at third singles to clinch the decision.

Sparta finished the season 4-6 overall.