Mueller, St. Viator serve up a victory
Even though it won the first set against visiting Fenwick, St. Viator’s volleyball team got off to a slow start on Thursday night.
Megan Mueller helped make sure that would not be the case in Set 2.
Taking her cues from assistant coach Jimmy Neill, the 5-foot-5 sophomore defensive specialist served for the first 8 points of the second set and the Lions never looked back in a 25-23, 25-14 triumph in the Cahill Gymnasium.
“I like serving,” said Mueller, who was 14 of 15. “Because I’m a defensive player, it’s the only time I can make something happen on offense.”
And she sure did with a career-high 5 aces, including 3 during the Lions’ 8-0 run to start Set 2.
“It’s all because of our strength and conditioning coach (Matt Saey) and coach Neill, who directs me where to serve,” said Mueller, a first-year varsity player. “I was just trying to stay focused and serve to the direction he signaled.”
The Lions (12-13, 1-3) hope Thursday’s first East Suburban Catholic Conference win was a signal of more to come.
“We had tough matches with Marist, Benet and Providence New Lenox, all good teams,” said Lions 5-foot-10 senior Rachel Horvath (4 kills). “And that helped prepare us for the rest of the conference matches coming up.”
Fenwick came up with a 3-0 lead in Set 1.
“We started off slowly because of our own errors there,” said Lions coach Charlie Curtin. “We called a timeout and kind of let the girls have it, and they responded very well.”
The Lions gained their biggest lead at 21-16 on a hitting error by Fenwick and kill by 5-9 senior Lauren Falotico (match-high 6 kills).
Fenwick (4-11, 1-4) tied it at 23-23 before Viator won the set on a kill by 5-10 senior middle hitter Olivia Neulle (5 kills, 3 blocks) and an ace by Mueller.
“Megan was serving to every single zone the coaches called for,” Horvath said. “And Lauren had 2 big aces at the end of the match that really gave us the momentum to finish it.”
Falotico’s back-to-back aces made it 24-13 before Horvath ended it 2 points later with her fourth kill of the match.
“The key was just having fun, relaxing and being at home,” said Lions setter Emily Wiliams, who handed out 17 assists from 42 sets along with 3 kills. “It all just came together.”
Sophomore middle hitter Mary Cleary had it all together at the net with 2 kills and 4 blocks kills, including three in a row during Mueller’s serving streak run to start Set 2.
In addition to Mueller’s 5 aces, Williams and Falotico each had 2 while sophomore Sara Lopez and junior Caroline Young each had one.
“Our conference is so tough and we know it will prepare us for the state playoffs,” Curtin said. “We don’t mind taking our lumps early to prepare for the postseason.”