The 2025 girls volleyball season is going to go down as one of the best ever.
In a sport that continues to grow in both participation and talent with each passing season, it will be hard to find another year that had so many elite-level programs in every corner of New Jersey.
No match symbolized the excitement, the nerves, and the parity quite like Thursday’s contest between St. John Vianney and Paul VI in Haddonfield.
In the NJSIAA/Wilson Non-Public A South sectional championship, two of the best programs went swing-for-swing all the way to the finish line of a marathon that wouldn’t have existed in any other year.
St. John Vianney – ranked No. 4 in the NJ.com Top 20 and seeded second in the sectional bracket – took the first two sets on the road over No. 2 and top-seeded Paul VI.
Any other year, and SJV takes the bus home back to Holmdel with a sweeping win. However, this is the first season that the NJSIAA’s ruling has gone into effect. Every contest will be a best-of-five to determine the victor.
So, St. John Vianney had to keep on clawing. They had to keep on going up for the block against one of the strongest hitting units in recent memory.
Paul VI, with a booming crowd never losing its energy despite being down big, nabbed the next two sets to force a nail-biting fifth frame. Just as this game so deserved. Just as the sport deserves.
In a match of N.J. volleyball titans that saw the scoreboard read 33 different ties, Paul VI held a 13-10 lead in the fifth set.
Amelia Reagan batted down four kills over a seven-point span to put the Eagles up front, but St. John Vianney didn’t lose its poise. SJV was two points away from watching a sectional championship slip through its fingers, but the Lancers recorded a point.
Then senior Taylor Sofilkanich recorded a block.
And then another one to tie it up at 13. Senior libero Gia Sergi jumped into Sofilkanich’s arms for a hug.
Then, junior Ayana Warren zipped a go-ahead ace for SJV. The Lancers paused for a moment, looked at each other, and could feel that trophy being within reach.
Paul VI went for another spike, but Sofilkanich denied her third block in the final four possessions of the match to clinch St. John Vianney’s Non-Public A sectional title in 25-21, 25-20, 24-26, 25-20, 15-13 fashion.
“We preach about having the game flow through us,” SJV head coach Jessica Gadaleta said.
“You have to be like water. When water gets too hot, it evaporates. When it gets too cold, it freezes up and is afraid to move. We need all 19 girls on this roster to flow as one, especially in a championship game. They played as one tonight.”
Improving to 25-1 in the standings, SJV extended its winning streak to 21 straight with Thursday’s win.
“You can never count out Paul VI. That program is so experienced and tough. That was an unbelievable game,” Sofilkanich said.
This was Paul VI’s first loss of the year, ending the 2025 season at 25-1.
St. John Vianney, also the winners of the 2025 Shore Conference Tournament, will face No. 10 Immaculate Heart in the Non-Public state finals on Saturday, Nov. 15 at 11 a.m. in Franklin.
The Lancers are making their second state championship appearance. The program lost to Immaculate Heart in the finals in 2015. IHA will vie for its 15th state title.
Box Score
SJV 25 25 24 20 15
PVI 21 20 26 25 13
SJV stats
Amelia Moro: 13 kills, 1 dig
Ayana Warren: 44 assists, 8 digs, 4 aces, 1 kill
Carsyn Slicner: 6 digs, 3 aces
Daria Shnarevich: 11 kills
Diana Mackiewicz: 5 digs
Gen Millett: 12 digs, 9 kills, 1 ace, 1 assist
Gia Sergi: 22 digs, 1 assist
Helen Domashinski: 2 kills
Mia Scaplen: 1 ace
Taylor Sofilkanich: 11 kills, 3 blocks
Paul VI stats
Megan Evans: 16 kills, 14 digs, 3 blocks, 2 ace
Amelia Reagan: 20 kills, 2 digs
Khloe Greene-Gordon: 6 kills, 2 digs, 1 block
Kam Wertz: 2 kills, 1 block, 1 dig
Sioni Adeniran: 2 kills, 1 block
Maggie Carcillo: 4 kills, 45 assists, 15 digs, 2 blocks
Lyla Rossi: 10 assists, 5 digs, 1 ace
Brynn Casmay: 8 digs, 2 aces, 1 assist
Avery Margre: 5 digs, 2 assists, 1 ace
Maddy Harada: 7 digs, 1 assist, 1 ace