New Carmel coach treated to opening win

If the first match is any indication, this could be a fun season for the Carmel boys volleyball team.

"We wanted to make a statement and I think we did that," said first-year coach Kevin Nylen.

Carmel controlled play throughout in a 25-11, 25-12 road victory over Lakes.

Although the Corsairs returned eight seniors, it was unclear how quickly they would adjust to a new coach.

"(Practices) have been up and down, and a good part of that was getting adjusted to me," Nylen said. "The seniors have really taken control and shown some good energy."

There was no up and down against Lakes; just a steady diet of solid volleyball in all phases of the game.

"Ideally, we would like to run our offense that quick," said Lakes coach Kara Harper. "(Carmel) played really well."

Carmel's attack was led by Joe Sponseller (8 kills) and Joe Ferrari (6 kills). The Corsairs' 6-2 offense featured 13 assists from Mike Dietrich and 6 assists by Mike Geske.

"We used our defense real well to (create) offense," Nylen said. "We were able to move around and I don't think Lakes knew where we were going with it."

Especially late in the second game, Carmel showed it also could attack from the back row.

"As the (match) progressed, we really got in a groove," Sponseller said. "We can hit from almost anywhere and we have a pretty big block.

Josh Garwood and Evan Linsner each contributed 2 blocks. Brandt Bernat had 2 aces. Linsner and Bernat had 6 and 4 digs, respectively.

"As long as we take care of the little things we'll be fine," Nylen said. "We got the ball to our setters and they ran the offense very smoothly."

Lakes senior Kevin Rice contributed 2 kills and 1 ace. Mark Molloy had 4 assists. Libero George Wilson's playing time was limited because of a shoulder injury.

Since Lakes only has two club players, Harper is expecting her team to perform at a much higher level after logging some additional practice time. That, along with the first veteran team in the short history of the program, has Harper excited about the rest of the season.

"We have a lot of juniors and seniors who played varsity for two or three years," she said. "They understand what we need to do to win."