Hale's tale foretells big win

Mark Hale opened with an ace, and that was a sign of good things to come.

The St. Francis libero took his place behind the service line in Game 1 with his team trailing 7-3 to visiting Joliet Catholic, aced the first serve and calmly added 7 more points to turn the game around and spark the Spartans to a 25-20, 25-21 win.

The Spartans (20-3) got off to a slow start, but they were carried by Hale's serving and stellar defensive work, and some powerful hitting by juniors Dan McGuire and Joe Mordell.

"They say good teams find a way to win even on an off night," said St. Francis coach Mike Lynch. "We were sluggish tonight but at the right times someone stepped up."

Hale, who was the back-up setter, moved into the libero slot that was so ably filled by the graduated Jay Hayes, and made it his own.

His contributions on Monday were keys to the victory, especially that game-changing service sequence.

"The guys look at me to be the positive influence, not to hang my head" said Hale. "At that point in the game, I had to get back there and score some points for us to get our heads in the game and pick everybody's spirit's up. My toss was good and I was hitting in a place they weren't expecting it every time."

"Mark is our most aggressive server," Lynch said. "Tonight, he was taking a little off the serve and placing it more, rather than driving it," Lynch said. "And, he's our defensive leader who's quick and athletic as a libero."

Lynch also praised McGuire and Mordell for some key kills that helped keep the Hilltoppers (13-7) on their heels.

"Those two juniors stepped up and gave us leadership," he said. "It's rare when two juniors can get you out of a tight situation."

McGuire led the Spartans with 7 kills and Mordell had 5. Despite being under the weather, Segneri dished out 23 assists, Steve Howe had 3 blocks and Hale was the dig-leader with 8.

The Spartans never trailed in Game 1 after that 9-point run (which included the sideout that gave them the serve), but then started slowly again in the second game.

The teams see-sawed in Game 2, with St. Francis taking the lead for good on a McGuire kill that made it 19-18.

Mordell put a missile down the line on the right-side to make it 24-21 and Mark Roberts closed out the match with a tip-kill.

Sophomore Christian Harris had 8 kills for the Hilltoppers, who were plagued by errors throughout the match.

"We're a young team that's still developing," said Joliet Catholic coach Rhyen Staley. "But tonight we made a lot more errors than we normally do. Some of that is to St. Francis' credit, but it was disappointing."