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St. Mary's advances to 2A final St. Mary's held the Class 2A top volleyball ranking for over a month during the season. The Crusaders never tasted defeat during that stretch, but were nevertheless replaced as No. 1 in the final two polls by the Delphian Dragons, a team St. Mary's defeated earlier this season. Second-ranked St. Mary's settled the issue Friday during the Class 2A state volleyball tournament at Lane Community College in Eugene with a 15-8, 12-15, 15-9 semifinal victory over Delphian of Sheridan. The Crusaders (32-3) will face fourth-ranked Amity in the finals at 8:30 tonight. This is the first St. Mary's girls' team to reach a tournament final in any sport. Earlier in the day, St. Mary's defeated Portland Christian 15-6, 8-15 and 15-8 in the quarterfinals. Against Delphian, St. Mary's senior outside hitter Maren Zielony proved to be the difference. "In the first two matches of the tournament Maren was playing tentative," St. Mary's coach James Joy said. "But in this match she rose up when we needed her most. She was doing a great job of mixing it up as we moved her around in different positions." Maren Zielony finished with team highs of 19 digs and 16 kills. Her sister, junior middle Kristen Zielony, provided a solid all-around performance with nine kills, 10 digs, four blocks and three aces. The Dragons took a 7-4 lead in the decisive third game, but St. Mary's didn't panic. Kristen Zielony put together a five-point service run for a 9-7 lead and the Crusaders never trailed again. With St. Mary's leading 11-9, Jenny Gritsch served out the match. "Our defense was key," said Joy. "They had a bunch of big hitters. We were getting a nice block up and it was feeding the ball to our passers." Junior setter Lani Brophy played an important role in the semifinal victory with 26 assists. "More important she (Brophy) had six kills on dumps," said Joy. "She was doing a great job setting different people and had them confused as far as what she was doing. She's been our court leader and holds everybody together." Portland Christian forced St. Mary's to a third game in the quarterfinals. And the Royals jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the final game. But Kim Hansen erased Royals' 6-5 lead with nine straight service points to put the Crusaders on the brink of victory. "She only had one ace," Joy said, "but we played solid defense behind her and were able to convert." Against Portland Christian, Maren Zielony smashed 14 kills, Kristen Zielony and Christina Vaninetti each had seven blocks, Megan Dode came up with 12 digs and Brophy provided 22 assists. Tonight's finals will be a rematch of the 1997 semifinals when Amity defeated St. Mary's. "They look a lot like us," said Joy. "The have a good defense and not a lot of height. They have quick, athletic girls." Today's Sports Index Mail Tribune Copyright� The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, OR U.S.A.