Carmel stops Warren

When the Warren volleyball team played at Carmel on Monday, just about every point was a battle.

When it was over, for the first time since spring break, Warren walked off the court without a victory.

Sensational defense by Carmel helped the Corsairs rally for a 22-25, 25-20, 26-24 nonconference victory.

"We got touches on some balls I didn't think we would get to," said Carmel coach Kevin Nylen. "This was the best defense we played all year, and that by far was the difference."

Warren was almost as good on defense, but the Blue Devils committed an unusually high number of hitting errors while suffering their first defeat since March 26.

Warren (28-3) does not have a lot of time to dwell on the loss. The Blue Devils (6-0 NSC) host to Vernon Hills (6-0) today with first place in the conference on the line.

"We have to refocus and come back strong against Vernon Hills," said Blue Devils coach Yun Chen.

The atmosphere in the Carmel gym was worthy of a sectional final.

"This is a tough place to play, and it's a good experience for these guys to play under these conditions," Chen said.

A sizable portion of the Carmel student section had noisemakers, which contributed to the raucous atmosphere.

"This is the loudest I've heard this gym for volleyball," Nylen said. "Our fans were just going nuts."

Added Carmel senior outside hitter Zach Engels: "The huge crowd was one of the reasons we won. The support and extra energy they gave us was awesome."

In the third game, Carmel (19-9) raced to leads of 4-0 and 11-14. Warren kept fighting back and tied the score at 21-21. Carmel responded with 2 consecutive points, followed by 2 Warren points.

A kill by Engels gave Carmel a 24-23 advantage, but the Blue Devils withstood a game point to even the score. Carmel closed out the match with an Engels kill and a Warren hitting error.

"I didn't want to mess up," said Engels, who had a match-high 12 kills. "I placed it and it fell in."

There wasn't much for Carmel's fans to cheer about in the opener. The key stretch for Warren came early on when 9 consecutive service points by senior libero Gordon Booker staked the Blue Devils to a 16-9 advantage. Booker seemed to be everywhere on the court, and he finished with 25 digs.

Senior Ryan Schuette's 11 kills paced Warren's attack. Seniors Jeff Halvorsen and Mike McNally each had 3 blocks.

For Carmel, Engels and senior libero Evan Linsner had 8 and 7 digs, respectively.

Carmel junior Erik Liederback came through with 6 kills and 3 solo blocks.

"He had some critical shots," Nylen said. "He played smart and brings great energy."