Boys volleyball: Carmel stays the comeback course against Warren
When the Carmel boys volleyball team is down, it often isn't out.
In fact, the Corsairs have made a habit this season out of rallying from deficits to win both sets and matches.
That happened again on Tuesday against visiting Warren.
Carmel came from behind to out-last Warren in a marathon of a first set and then righted the ship after a rough start in the second set to get a 30-28, 25-22 sweep of the match. Of their 21 matches, the Corsairs (16-5) have rallied from behind for wins in nearly 30 percent of them, and did so on Monday night as well against Rolling Meadows.
"It was the hustle," Carmel junior hitter Jackson Ptasienski said of the difference for his team in this come-from-behind victory. "Not letting the ball drop, diving on the floor, sprawling everywhere, everyone on their toes. Hustle was huge for us, and it was totally a team effort."
Ptasienski, who rolled up a team-high 6 kills, provided the dramatic last point for Carmel as he blocked a thunderous hitting attempt by Warren hitter Kyle Wells. Wells finished with a game-high 16 kills.
"That was amazing to get that (block) because Kyle Wells is such a good player, one of the best players (in the area)," Ptasienski said. "It was so much fun and we were so excited because we know the Warren kids and we know how good Warren is. That's just a really good team and it was us wanting to beat them because we know them so well through club and being in the area."
Carmel and Warren each had leads and each fought deficits in the first set. The Corsairs faced match-point several times, including a 23-24 deficit with Warren in control of the serve, but each time the Corsairs fought back to live a little longer.
After winning a draining first set, the Corsairs then fell behind quickly in the second set. Carmel coach Kevin Nylen called a timeout with his team down 4-0, but Warren kept rolling and went up 7-2 before Carmel started chipping away.
"That's not the first time we've seen that kind of resilience," Nylen said. "All season long, we've had our backs against the wall in various fashions, and for some reason, we find a way to pull through. It's guys keeping a level head. There's no panic. We are even keel and there's this belief that we can do it, which is exciting."
Ben Burkhalter and Jack Herron each added 5 kills for Carmel and Kerrick Podgorski finished with 4 kills. Herron, the setter, also had 3 assists and 10 digs while Sean Wittmann finished with 11 digs.
The Carmel defense made a habit of scrapping to keep the ball alive and dug up plenty of tough hits by a tall, powerful Warren team.
"It was a good game for us to play. It's better like that (having a close, competitive match)," Wells said. "We just had some errors and we missed some serves. I think if we can eliminate those we will be fine."
Warren, which showed just as much fight in that first set, is now 14-11 on the season. The Blue Devils also got 7 kills from Mihajlo Gomez.
"We were in it, but we were just a step slow sometimes," Warren coach Yun Chen said. "Towards the end of the first set, we picked it up. But Carmel played really well, too. We try to take this as a learning experience."