Friday marked the second year in a row St. Patrick upset Young in a sectional semifinal.
The Shamrocks claimed a 18-25, 25-22, 25-20 victory over the Dolphins and setup a rematch of last year’s sectional final with Payton on Tuesday.
Payton and St. Patrick played for the sectional title last year as well, with Payton escaping with a 25-11, 25-21 win.
After stumbling out of the gate in the first set, the Shamrocks rushed out to a 15-5 lead in the second set, causing Young coach Jamie Walters to burn both timeouts quickly.
But just as it looked as if the Shamrocks were going to blow the Dolphins out, Young went on a 15-6 run to close to 21-20 deficit. However, the Shamrocks got two kills from Jack Benson to close out the set and even the match at a set apiece.
That set up the decisive third set, which started a back-and-forth match until St. Patrick went on a 7-3 run to put the match out of reach.
The Dolphins were able to get within two twice the rest of the way, but every time Young tried to get any momentum, the Shamrocks responded back.
Tom Wesolowski had 16 kills to lead Young (19-14), while Benson had 12 kills and James Berg added seven for St. Patrick (17-22).
