Girls volleyball: St. Viator, Wheeling team up for 'Volley for the Cure' night

Senior Erin Aldana set St. Viator's 5-1 offense on Monday night at Wheeling.

But she and her teammates were more concerned about setting up the future for more research and awareness of breast cancer.

The Lions and Wildcats played their annual 'Volley for the Cure' match.

"We just played really hard because 'Volley for the Cure' has always been a big tradition for St. Viator," said Aldana, whose Lions won the nonconference girls volleyball test 25-21, 25-19. "We just wanted to keep the tradition alive here at Wheeling and I think we do a good job. It means a lot to this team."

One reason is because the mother of Lions coach Charlie Curtin, Nancy, passed away from breast cancer in 1992.

"He (Curtin) has done so much for myself and the team in general," Aldana said of Curtin, who led the Lions to fourth place in the 2017 Class 3A state tourney. "He's been my coach the last three years and we've developed a great relationship through the years. I really appreciate him."

Curtin appreciates the assistance from Wheeling and coach Jason Kopkowski.

"This was awesome," said the veteran St. Viator coach, whose sons Connor and Dylan made the trip to Wheeling. "This means a lot to me because of my mother. It means a lot to see the girls supporting it and trying to raise money."

"Jason has been a great partner, getting Wheeling involved and just making this annual tradition live on."

Katherine Drab, also a St. Viator senior, served three key points which got the visitors a 21-13 lead in Set 2.

The Lions wrapped up the match at 25-19 when Aldana set junior Serafina DeMunno for her second kill of the night.

"This (Volley for the Cure) was awesome," Drab said. "It's really great to see both teams coming together for this."

Sophomores Lauren Allaire and Lilly LaFleur led the Lions (11-13) with 9 kills apiece while classmate Marie Torosian added 6.

Wheeling took a 19-15 lead in Set 1 when Chicago State recruit Grace Zambrano put down one of her 3 kills.

"Then all of a sudden a couple of things just didn't go our way," Kopkowski said. "And it looked like it took all the wind out of our sails."

"It was at that point where we definitely had a turnaround," Allaire said. "We went into our huddle and our coach said play for Vicky (Gorny, senior who suffered a broken ankle in practice and is out for the season). We really used her as our motivation and we pushed through the rest of the match."

Drab's ace and freshman Marcelina Gorny's block of an overpass gave the Lions a 7-3 lead in Set 2.

Two service points by junior Brenda Dooley extended the lead to 13-6.

Wheeling trailed 21-13 but scored 4 straight points (3 from Emma Sternquist) before Viator closed it out.

"We are implementing all our younger players into the system this season and it's such a good group," Aldana said. "I love these girls. We have so much fun in our off time. People may look at it (youth) as our weakness but I feel, if anything, it's brought our whole team together because every player knows her role."

Aldana and Gorny each had 2 blocks.

Emily LaCaeyse also put down 3 kills for Wheeling (11-14) while Olivia Chavez added two.

Middle hitter Kiannah Hayes collected 5 blocks, the most in one match by a Wildcat this season.

"We've come a long way with consistency since the beginning of the season," Kopkowski said. "But the inconsistencies still rear their ugly head and that gets the best of us. Then we exert a ton of energy playing from behind. We've been in that position a lot recently."

But Kopkowski enjoyed being in the position to assist with breast cancer awareness.

"It was fun," he said. "We started it at St. Viator last year and we raised about $4,500. We're going to try and keep it going.

"It's a great cause. Obviously, girls volleyball is very relevant considering about 90 percent of all breast cancer cases are women. So many people know a woman who they care about or love who it has affected. So we love to do this night.

"We're glad that St. Viator asked us to do it with them and we hope we can keep the tradition going."