YORK - After being swept in straight sets twice by top-ranked Exeter-Milligan during the regular season, it was No. 2 Meridian's turn to use the broom Tuesday night at York High School.

Behind 16 and 15 kills, respectively, from junior outside hitters Brandie Sykes and Alli Johnson, the Mustangs claimed a 25-20, 25-21, 29-27 triumph over Exeter-Milligan in the finals of the D1-3 volleyball subdistrict before an estimated 600 spectators.

Meridian (24-6) advances to the district finals Thursday night against seventh-ranked Silver Lake. Despite the loss, Exeter-Milligan (24-5) can still pick up one of the two wild-card berths into next week's state tournament, having entered Tuesday's play second in the wild-card standings.

"The first two times we played them (Exeter-Milligan), we were intimidated by their height, quickness and the power their middles can put on the ball," Meridian coach Linda Johnson said. "We've gotten better defensively as the year's gone on. We approached it like we had nothing to lose; just relax, have fun and make them play defense."

The Mustangs made Exeter-Milligan play from behind most of the night, sprinting to a 13-7 lead in the first set and never looking back.

The 5-foot-5 Sykes slammed seven kills and had a team-high 25 digs to spark a defensive effort that limited the damage the Timberwolves' middle blockers Claire White and Heather Pribyl could inflict.

The second set was tied at 21 when Meridian reeled off the final four points to take command of the match. A point-ending tip around the block by Brooke Hofstetter started the run. Then after an Exeter-Milligan hitting error, back-to-back kills by Johnson, the coach's niece, closed out the set.

The coach's daughter, senior Taylor Johnson, ignited Meridian's attack with 33 assists.

White, a 5-10 sophomore, and Heather Pribyl, a 6-foot junior, combined for 37 kills - White 22 and Pribyl 17. Kelsey Moore had 21 assists for the Wolves and Taylor Erdkamp added 13.

Both teams had two set points late in the see-saw third set as White kept her team alive with kills to erase Meridian's match point. A kill out of the middle by a psyched-up Sykes gave the Mustangs a third match point, then she ended it with a kill off an assist from Alli Johnson.

"I'm one of the people who gets everybody up," Sykes said. "We knew we had to come out strong and stay up the whole match to win. Our defense was unbelievable. We played really well."

Exeter-Milligan committed 19 attack errors in the match, "and a lot of those were not aggressive errors, they were tentative ones," Timberwolves coach Darcy White said. "Meridian played great, and we didn't respond. We watched numerous balls hit the floor that shouldn't have."

Reach Ron Powell at 473-7437 or rpowell@journalstar.com.