Girls volleyball: Hard-hitting Carmel rallies past St. Viator

Like fans racing to box-office booths for Game 7 tickets, people emptied out of Woodstock's gym quickly following Tuesday night's second Class 3A sectional semifinal.

Well, OK, they didn't actually sprint.

Carmel Catholic had just knocked off St. Viator 25-19, 25-17.

"Go, Cubs," a St. Viator staff member said to Lions coach Charlie Curtin, patting him on the shoulders following the match.

That the semifinal didn't go three sets allowed fans to hustle home and catch most of Game 6 of the World Series between the Cubs and Indians.

"With the Cubs game going on, you got to keep it moving," coach David Pazely joked after his second-seeded Corsairs (27-11) advanced to Thursday's 6 p.m. final against top-seeded Marian Central (37-1).

"I thought we played pretty well," Carmel setter Grace Butler said. "We were rusty at first, but once we got in a groove, we came together."

Early on, No. 3 St. Viator (18-20) hardy looked like a team that went winless in the East Suburban Catholic Conference. The Lions led 17-15 in the opening set before Carmel rattled off 5 straight points to take the lead for good. The run included 4 St. Viator errors, including one where two players miscommunicated and let a ball drop.

St. Viator junior Catherine Hickey had 5 of her 7 kills in the first set.

"I thought we played very well at the beginning," Curtin said. "We were aggressive. But then we made a couple of mistakes and started to fall apart. Our talking went down, our aggressiveness went down and, once that happens, we get in trouble."

Kaylee Liberty's second ace skimmed the top of the net and fell to the court to cut St. Viator's deficit to 20-19. But back-to-back hitting errors followed, and the Lions couldn't rally.

"They came out firing on all cylinders, and we were a little flat," Pazely said. "We made some mistakes early. Some of them were because of how well they were playing. But we recovered. A timeout settled things down and our serve picked up, which got them a little more out of system. Our hitters started to find some rhythm."

It carried over into the second set, as Carmel never trailed.

"As you saw in Game 2," Pazely said, "we were finally swinging the way that we're supposed to."

Carmel junior defensive specialist Mia DiBartolo played Aroldis Chapman, minus the velocity, closing out both games with her arm. Her back-to-back serves twice handcuffed St. Viator, accounting for the final two points in the opener.

In Set 2, another line-drive ace by DiBartolo finished off the match.

"She's been a solid player for us all year," Pazely said. "She knows her role and does it well."

Carmel featured a balanced attack. Lauren Nelson led the Corsairs with 6 kills, freshman Eileen Tarcha put down five, sophomore Alyssa Dellert added four, and Butler and Erin Taylor each had three. Tarcha also chalked 15 digs.

"I thought Erin Taylor played really well," said Butler, who also dished out 16 assists and served 2 aces. "She was hitting really hard."

St. Viator also played Carmel competitively in ESCC play, losing 26-24, 25-17. The Lions graduate only one starter, middle Katie Kerrigan. They started three sophomores.

"We made a couple of mistakes, being a young team," Curtin said. "But I'm excited for the next couple of years."

Marian Central d. Resurrection: At Woodstock, the defending Class 3A state champs won 25-14, 25-10 to advance to Thursday night's sectional final against Carmel.

Sydney Nemtuda had 12 kills and Brenna Koch added six for Marian Central (37-1). McKayla Wuensch recorded 16 assists and 3 blocks.