Joliet Catholic spoils Carmel's big night

Carmel's Jake Wolfe wanted to celebrate Senior Night with a victory.

He led with 8 kills, 6 blocks and an served an ace. But it was not enough as Joliet Catholic swept the host Corsairs 29-27, 29-27 in an East Suburban Catholic Conference volleyball match on Monday night.

"We really came in excited to win," said Wolfe, who will be heading to Michigan State next fall. "In the last couple of points, we were really digging out and tried to do anything we could to pull it out, but we couldn't do it."

Fellow senior Alex Spike delivered 6 kills and an ace.

"We came out pretty weak in the beginning and then we started to pick it up," Spike said. "The settings were better, the digging was better and we started to put the ball down."

Also being honored before the game were fellow seniors Kevin Kneeland (9-of-11 serving), Andrew Adamson, John Krzmarzick, Matt Buffalino, Mark Hertel and Nick Russo.

Joliet Catholic improved to 21-14 overall and 7-2 in the ESCC while Carmel fell to 7-22 and 3-6 in the conference.

"Carmel did a great job of battling and fighting back," Joliet Catholic coach Rhyen Staley said. "We had some good leads. One of our pitfalls has been finishing a game. (Carmel) had control of both games, but our guys kept hanging tough to win."

Both games Carmel came back from huge deficits to tie the games, but in both games Joliet Catholic used its power game to win.

"(Joliet Catholic) is good," Carmel coach Kevin Nylen said. "Ultimately, we made a few mistakes. Both games, we came back, which was nice to see. And what was most encouraging for us was that we wanted to play tough with them and play good volleyball."

In the first game, Joliet Catholic was winning 24-21. But Carmel rallied back as Wolfe (6 kills, 1 ace, 5 assists) supplied a block-kill. After a Spike kill, Carmel had tied the game 24-24.

The teams battled until they were tied at 27-27. Then Hilltoppers junior Christian Harris scored 2 straight kills to end Game 1.

In the second game, Joliet Catholic was leading 20-15 but the Corsairs kept chipping away until they rallied back with a 8-2 spurt to take a 23-22 lead.

After Joliet Catholic tied it up, the teams battled until Harris's 6th blocked shot of the match and a Carmel shot, which sailed long, clinched the game and the match.

Harris finished by leading his team with 10 kills, 6 blocked shots and 2 aces.

"The last few shots in both games were very intense and I just tried to execute the shots," Harris said.

Senior Keegan Robbins scored 5 kills, had 15 assists and provided 5 blocks.

" My blocks have been off a little bit this year," Robbins said. "I didn't plan on getting alot of blocks tonight but I tried to make as many as I could because every bit helps."