Neuqua's Stevens doesn't waste his chance to play
Tommie Stevens wasn't going to let his big opportunity go to waste.
The Neuqua Valley sophomore outside hitter, filling in for absent kills leader Jon Storm, stepped up big and lead the Wildcats to a 25-14, 22-25, 25-19 over visiting Upstate Eight Conference rival St. Charles East on Tuesday in Naperville.
Stevens led the Wildcats in kills with 12 and he also came up with 13 digs and smashed 2 aces, playing three sets for the first time in his varsity career.
"This was great," Stevens said. "It was nice to get a chance to prove myself. I had a lot of fun. I think I played well. My passing and hitting were good."
Neuqua Valley coach Erich Mendoza was impressed with the way Stevens moved into the lineup like a veteran and probably earned a spot in the mix in the future.
"Tommie had a killer match," Mendoza said. "He was definitely our MVP tonight. He passed really well, he had an excellent hitting percentage and he served tough. Nice to know you have a soph who can step in for your kills leader and have the match he did against a good team like St. Charles East."
After coasting to a 25-14 victory in the first game, Mendoza went with Stevens, libero Zach Gilligan and a rotation of reserves in Game 2 in order to give more players court experience.
And while the makeshift lineup performed admirably, the Saints (5-10, 2-1) showed their intensity and athleticism by staying ahead for most of the game, fighting off several Neuqua challenges and grabbing the lead for good at 22-21.
The Saints got some confidence from their success and stayed close to the Wildcats (8-3, 3-1) right up to the 18th point of Game 3. Then Neuqua got a little separation thanks to a pair of St. Charles East errors, a kill by Stevens and a Chris Hornacek block.
Fittingly, Stevens capped off his great match with a service ace for match point.
Neuqua Valley setter Alex Blackwell had 19 assists, 7 digs and 3 aces. Gilligan led the team in digs with 22, Connor Dart had 7 kills for the Wildcats, and Trey Dimond had 6.
"I'm very happy with the way my team competed tonight," said St. Charles East coach Kate McCullagh. "We played well throughout the match but made a few silly errors in the third game and you can't do that against a good team like Neuqua Valley. Neuqua is consistent, they fight for every point and hustle down any ball they need to."
Baxter Reed and Josh Carnell were the kill leaders with 6 each for the Saints. Carnell also had 5 blocks and Richard Geyer was the dig leader with 9. Setter Brandon Cermak dished out 23 assists.