St. Francis learns how to win close match

If Wednesday's victory in a close match works out the way St. Francis boys volleyball coach Mike Lynch thinks, his young Spartans will grow up a little faster.

"Yes, it does, it really does (help)," Lynch said after his team captured a 25-19, 22-25, 26-24 victory against visiting Riverside-Brookfield. "Just to come back and tie it at 24-24 like that, they need that. They need to be able to close out games."

"It's big momentum, especially with our game tomorrow," added Spartans senior Conor Reinke. "It really helps us to keep the ball rolling."

Game 1 didn't start out well for the Spartans. The Bulldogs scored the first four points, prompting Lynch to take a quick timeout.

"We had to settle them down," he said. "The only one who has any varsity experience (prior to this season) is Jon Messa. The rest of them are two sophomores who are starting and five juniors. You can see it in their faces with them. For some reason when they play on our court, it gets a little bit more tentative."

Game 1 was even midway through when the Spartans began to pull away, taking a 20-14 lead on a Bulldogs violation. That 6-point margin was the biggest of the match.

The Spartans (8-2) clinched the game on a Matt Baggio kill that skimmed over the net.

"It was a really good match, a great match. A lot of back and forth, a lot of guys on both sides putting the ball away, some great defensive play on both sides. It was a lot of fun," Riverside-Brookfield coach Dan Bonarigo said.

Bonarigo especially enjoyed the way his Bulldogs (4-11) bounced back in Game 2. They led narrowly most of the way, going up 23-19 on a Maclean Nolan kill and putting the game away when a St. Francis hit went awry.

"I was very encouraged that we were able to fight back and push the match to three and then to give them everything we had in Game 3," Bonarigo said.

As close as the first two games were, the third was even closer, with neither team leading by more than 3-point margin the Bulldogs had twice, the last time at 11-8.

With the score tied at 24, the Bulldogs seemed to take the lead when a St. Francis hit went long, but the referees called a net violation. A Baggio kill ended the match.

"As young guys, we've had close matches before, but not on the varsity level," Reinke said. "These games mean a lot of experience, and that helps a lot."

Baggio led the Spartans with 11 kills. Reinke impressed his coach with 8 kills and 5 blocks.

"He really stepped up there," Lynch said. "He's playing out of position. On the JV he was on outside hitter and to come to the middle of the court, that's a quicker ball."

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