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Meadie, Carmel band together against Mundelein

This only child is anything but lonely. Carmel Catholic junior Patrick Meadie has found plenty of close-knit company on the school's volleyball squad.

After all, he and left-handed slugger Mike May have been best friends since the third grade.

"These guys are my best friends,'' Meadie said. "They are my brothers."

On Monday night, Meadie and his best buddies took care of visiting Mundelein handily in set one. Meadie took over the serving with his team up just 2-1.

When he was done, the Carmel lead was 9-2. Meadie had a pair of aces and kills from May and Carson Buckner. Carmel (15-8) dominated set one with a 25-15 victory.

And in set two, Corsairs fell behind 10-5 to the hard-hitting Mustangs.

Meadie had 3 kills in a row in the second set. Carmel broke a 20-20 tie and won 25-20.

Carmel coach Kevin Nylen had plenty to say about Meadie, a three-year starter.

"He jumps out of the gym,'' Nylen said. "He was as good a hitter as our varsity kids when he was in the fifth, sixth and seventh grades. He's a natural volleyball player. He's technically sound. He's not super big and he's not super strong, but he's technically very sound."

And Meadie comes from good genes. His cousin is former Carmel girls standout Caroline Vowels.

Did Mundelein (9-14) show any fight in set one? Absolutely, and it sure seems the Mustangs can hit the volleyball hard. The leaders in that category were senior outside hitter Jake Langlie, senior middle blocker Roman Tkachuk and up-and-coming freshman Trevon Jackson.

"We have very little varsity experience,'' said Mundelein coach George Dressen. "And we have trouble holding on to leads. But we showed some signs in that second set."

Mundelein didn't show much offense in set one. Langlie supplied a serving ace, and Jackson scored on a block kill. Other than that, it was all Carmel as two Brian Esterquest aces ended set one in favor of the Corsairs.

The Mustangs jumped up front in set two behind the serving of libero Yoshio Jimenez. Yes, he took advantage of some Carmel hitting errors, but he also got help from a Langlie kill as Mundelein looked in control at 12-7. That was before Meadie decided to intervene.

"I don't like that feeling of losing,'' Meadie noted. "We got off to a slow start in the second set. But as the game progressed, we got that will to win."

Meadie's back-to-back kills came with Esterquest serving and they cut the Mundelein lead to 13-11.

"We make bonehead mistakes,'' Nylen said. "But we know we can play with anyone. I just want them to reach their potential."

May led Carmel with 8 kills. Meadie had 7 kills and Kyle Zeman, a year removed from an ACL tear, added 3 kills. Setter, Andrew Mehigan had 20 assists.

"He's just a grinder,'' Nylen said of Mehigan. "He just keeps working. He's even-tempered across the board."

Carmel libero, Ryan Fuller, had 9 digs.

Langlie led Mundelein with 5 kills. Both Tkachuk and Jackson had 3 kills, and setter Anthony Fiore had 13 assists.

  Mundelein's Abram Nazario (6) eyes the ball hit by Carmel's Patrick Meadie as Nazario's teammate, Anthony Fiore (13), goes for the block during Monday's match at Carmel. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
  Carmel Catholic's Kyle Zeman, right, knocks the ball past Mundelein's Trevon Jackson (12) during Monday's match at Carmel. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
  Mundelein's Blake Graham bumps the ball after a Carmel serve during Monday's match at Carmel. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
  Carmel Catholic's Brian Esterquest, center, finds a hole between Mundelein's Brian Walters (14) and Trevon Jackson (12) during Monday's match at Carmel. Paul Valade/pvalade@dailyherald.com
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