Girls volleyball: Vitullo, St. Viator ace difficult nonconference test vs. York
In a match featuring two teams ranked among the top 15 in the Daily Herald girls volleyball Top 20, No. 11 and host St. Viator rose to the occasion with probably its best effort of the season against No. 15 York.
Lions senior libero Gabriella Vitullo, playing her first season on the varsity, had never ended a match with an ace in her four years at St. Viator.
Not only did she accomplish that, Vitullo actually had the final 2 points for aces in the Lions' 25-21, 25-11 triumph over a York team that entered the nonconference match at 13-2.
"We knew they (York) were really good," said Vitullo, who played on the freshman A team and two years on the JV. "So we came out with a lot of energy. It was an amazing match. I'm so happy. I love serving. I was just trying to get the ball to the zone my coach told me and to finish the match."
Vitullo finished the match with 7 digs and 3 aces.
"She played fantastic," said Lions coach Charlie Curtin. "She got those aces at the end but she also had some huge digs in the middle. At one point, she got a huge cover on a block and she passed very, very well. So all around, it was an excellent match for her. She has put in the time and she has relished in the role. She is really enjoying the season."
The Lions (9-3) enjoyed an 8-3 lead early in the first set when Mary Francl put down one of her 5 kills. Viator never looked back, ending the set on a kill from senior Erin Lynch. She got the set from Olive Meyers (11 assists), who ran the offense along with Rose Berlen (12 assists, 1 block).
Lynch (6 digs, 1 ace) led the Lions' attack with 9 kills followed by Francl's 5 kills, Olivia Walberg (4 kills, 1 block) and Grace Geary (3 kills, 1 block). Avery Albritton (2 kills, 1 block) and Molly Huber (1 kill, 1 block) also put down winners while Abigail Sheldon and Kayli Burke each had an ace.
"I think Erin (Lynch) stepped up and played amazing," Curtin said. "She had all her shots working. She hit from the back row and different areas on the court. She did very well."
"It's incredible," Lynch said. "It's really just the whole team putting the work in and outside of the gym. We have so much potential this year. We've been waiting for this season to come and people are showing up to play."
The Lions' play in the second set was even more convincing as they pulled away to a 16-7 lead behind 6 straight service points from Lynch.
"That was probably one of the biggest teams we've played," said fifth-year York coach Danny Piwowarczyk. "Size-wise, I think three or four girls are over 6-feet tall and we have zero over 6-0. We are very skilled. A lot of what we do comes from the effort we give defensively, the effort we give trying to find holes in the block.
“We try to get set the offense in a way we can find the holes and I thought (seniors) Audrey Faley (5 kills) and Reese Timmerwilke (3 kills) did an awesome job getting kills and finding holes. When we play bigger teams, we need our pins to find creative ways to get kills and that's what we'll work on. We'll coach them up."
The Dukes were coming off a big three-set win (26-24 in the third) over Glenbard West.
"We came off a pretty big win on Tuesday," Piwowarczyk said. "It was a match everyone wanted and this was kind of like a letdown spot where we are on the road, coming to their gym and they're fired up to play us. We know they had a week to prepare for us. And props to them, they played amazing in both sets. They played very error free and it's going to be hard to beat teams like that. That's why we put them on our schedule."
The Lions put forward their best effort.
"Overall, I think that was probably our best match of the season," Curtin said. "We were able to take care of all facets of the game.
"York is an awesome team. They're well coached and being able to play like that against such a high-ranked team is fun. It shows what we have going forward."