SHARPSVILLE — With each mighty swing of her right arm, the volleyball screamed toward the hardwood of the Sharpsville High School gym.

Abby Matusik was nearly unstoppable.

The senior outside hitter for the Mars volleyball team had 15 kills — almost all of them clutch — to send the Planets to a 25-18, 27-25, 20-25, 25-16 win over Meadville in the PIAA Class AA quarterfinals Saturday afternoon.

“She does everything for us,” said Mars volleyball coach Dan Mountain of Matusik, who also had a handful of aces and digs to go with her huge attack numbers. “I can’t stress enough how important she is for our team. It’s good to know when we need it, we have a big-time player like Abby to get it done for us.”

This win, the sixth of the postseason and second of the state playoffs, was perhaps the most difficult yet for the Planets.

Mars cruised through the WPIAL playoffs to a district title without losing a set. The Planets, though, were one point away from potentially falling behind against Meadville 2-1.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Mountain said. “Overall, (Meadville’s Monica Jackson) was one of the best players we’ve seen. We knew they weren’t going to go away.”

Mars cruised in the first set, but fell behind 5-0 to the Bulldogs in Game 2 before rallying.

Meadville, though, was up 25-24 before the Planets got kills from Matusik and Jaden Zimmer to move ahead 26-25.

Matusik then served up an ace to pull out the game and stake Mars to a 2-0 lead.

“None of us were really nervous,” Matusik said. “We knew what we could do and what we are capable of. We ended up executing pretty well.”

Meadville dominated the third game, Jackson and Leah Jones in particular.

The two outside hitters for the Bulldogs had no trouble putting the ball on the floor, combining for 12 kills and three aces.

Jackson and Jones both finished with double-digit kills.

But Mars adjusted for the fourth game, took a 16-8 lead in large part by keeping the Bulldogs’ attack at bay, and cruised to the decisive win that sends the Planets into a semifinal matchup against District 10 champion Fort LeBoeuf — a 3-0 winner over WPIAL runner-up Hopewell — Tuesday at Slippery Rock University, starting at 7 p.m.

“Early on and at the end, those girls weren’t able to get their kills because we were digging and blocking,” Mountain said.

When Matusik wasn’t wreaking havoc on the Mars attack, Emily King was.

The senior had 10 kills — four coming in the first game.

And Mars keeps on rolling.

“Yes,” King said, smiling. “We do.

“I can’t believe we are one of the top-four teams in the state,” she added. “It’s unreal.”

But not entirely unexpected.

Mars is a veteran team. The nine seniors on the Planets’ roster got a small taste the state playoffs when they were freshmen.

That trip ended bitterly, though. In pool play, Mars didn’t win a game.

Now, in the state semifinals, the Planets don’t believe it will be their final destination.

“This is not the end of the road for us,” King said. “Our expectations are to get to the final game and to win that final game.”