Viator battles back for victory
St. Viator fell behind 5-0 in Monday’s girls volleyball match at Wheeling and lost 25-15 in Set 1.
But the Lions hardly flinched.
“Almost every match we’ve played this season we’ve come from behind,” said Lions senior 5-foot-9 outside hitter Lauren Falotico. “That’s what we’re good at — fighting through it.”
Sure enough, the Lions fought back for a 15-25, 25-21, 25-10 triumph to raise their record to 4-3 after a fourth-place finish Saturday in the Wheaton North tournament.
Falotico led the Lions with 12 kills while 5-10 junior Maggie Shannahan added 5 and 6-foot sophomore Mary Cleary 3. Senior setter Emily Williams handed out 18 assists.
Set 3 was close until the Lions rallied from a 13-10 deficit to pull ahead 17-13 behind the serve of 5-3 junior defensive specialist Beth Romano.
Falotico had 2 big kills during the rally while Shannahan had one.
St. Viator is without two starting front-line performers — senior Rachel Horvath (concussion suffered in practice Friday) and junior Janelle Stilling (ankle injury in summer club volleyball).
“That hurts us up front,” Falotico said. “We don’t have two power hitters. So we work hard on serving, passing and defense to get the kills we need.”
Romano helped spark the defense with 4 key digs.
“Lauren (Falotico) was able to give us the spark on offense and Romano came though with some big digs,” said Lions coach Charlie Curtin. “We’ve started slow in matches all season. To be honest, I don’t know why. We’ve got to get going earlier and cut down on our errors.”
Wheeling got going behind the serve of 5-9 junior Amanda Mullin, who also set the offense with 16 assists from 54 attempts.
Top beneficiary was 6-foot senior middle hitter Kellie Kuzmanic, who put down 8 kills. Kuzmanic also scored Wheeling’s first 2 points of the match with blocks.
“Kellie (3 blocks) started her senior season on a high note,” said Wildcats coach Jason Kopkowski, whose club was playing its first match. “She expects a lot from herself and her teammates.
“Amanda (Mullin) did a good job for her first match at this level. And Sara Kern (12 digs, 1 ace) played a nice all-around game in the front and back row.”
Senior Sydney Keith added 7 kills for the Wildcats while senior Emma Jensen and Kern each had 3.
Set 2 was tied at 16-16 but Viator pulled way to a 24-17 lead on 4 serve points by Falotico.
Wheeling staved off set point 4 times until a block by senior Olivia Nuelle ended the match.
“Our girls were able to fight back,” Curtin said. “I’m proud of them. They fought to the end.”
“We are working on coming out faster,” Falotico added. “Especially for the conference season.”
Kopkowski got 3 aces from Jensen and 1 apiece from Keith, Mullin, Kern, Kuzmanic and Charlene Figueroa.
“We had 17 days of practice to work for this so the girls came out with some energy,” Kopkowski said. “They had good intentions right at the start of the match. They were tenacious throughout the match. That’s a good quality to have. These girls will not give up.”
Girls golf
Prospect 156, Conant 184, Palatine 210: Senior Christine Garmoe birdied her last two holes on the front nine of the Mt. Prospect Golf Course to record medalist honors with a par 35.
Garmoe was just 1 stroke shy of the school record for nine holes that she holds along with teammate Allison Walsh and former standout Anne Senn. Allison Walsh and her sister Kiley each fired 39s for the Knights while teammate Sarah Scaccia added a 43.
Prospect improved to 6-0 in the MSL with its 43rd straight MSL match win. Junior Jackie Halden (45) led Conant while junior Sally Ploch (46) was top scorer for the Pirates.
Buffalo Grove 198, Maine West 206: Junior standout Grace Kil shot a 39 on the par 37 Buffalo Grove Golf Course to lead BG. Amber Guiao was next at 47 for BG while teammate Courtney Meyer added a 49.
Olenka Kalinowski and Katie Meyers led Maine West with 50s.