Girls volleyball: Montini finds its focus

There has never been a doubt about the talent level of this year's Montini girls volleyball team, certainly not while the Broncos were opening the year with 18 wins in their first 19 matches.

But a little slip in the team's focus and intensity of late saw Montini lose three of four matches heading into Thursday's Girls Catholic Athletic Conference showdown with a tall, talented Loyola Academy team that came to Lombard with a 17-4 record. So, prior to match, Montini coach Steve Dowjotas used Wednesday's practice as an opportunity to regain the team's focus.

The coach's more grueling than usual practice paid off. The Broncos were sharp in a 25-23, 25-22 victory over the Ramblers. The veteran players were at the top of their game, a pair of freshmen made major contributions, and a night of tough serving - without a single missed serve - helped the team return to its winning ways.

"We had a little rough of a practice yesterday to get them back in a non-comfortable state," Dowjotas said. "It was more of a track practice. We also did a lot of pressure drills that made them have to work and focus, and they couldn't get out of drills until they won."

After a spell of "uninspired volleyball" the Montini coach wanted his players to get back on track. "We needed to get back into our winning ways. I think we just got comfortable with how good we were and we just stopped fighting. We were hoping other teams would just give it to us."

The Ramblers, with a pair of 6-foot-3 seniors in Elizabeth Ford and Mary Kate Lopez, were not about to give anything to the hosts. The Ramblers grabbed a quick 5-1 lead in the opener following one of Ford's six kills, and the visitors did not trail before a Jocelyn Boyer ace put the home team ahead 19-18. The first set was tied at 20, 21, 22 and 23 before freshman Madalyn Kasallis delivered a big kill that was followed by a Ramblers miss that gave the first set to the Broncos.

Kasallis, a 5-11 middle, had 7 kills and 4 blocks, while freshman outside Paige Pickering added 4 kills. The younger Pickering - whose sister Madeline is a senior defensive specialist - said the players did indeed get a little extra motivation after having to run more than usual the previous day.

"Yesterday our practice was a little more on the harder side," she said. "We kind of got our butts beat. After that running we were like no more (sprints). After the St. Ignatius loss we knew we weren't going to have a loss without really fighting for it."

Both teams showed plenty of fight in the second set, which was tight throughout. Neither team led by more than three points. After the Broncos' Tess Noonan set up Johanna Kingsfield for a kill and a 20-18 lead, the Ramblers' Lizzie Walker answered with a big swing of her own.

With Montini ahead 20-19 the teams staged a long, impressive volley featuring big digs and blocks on each side before Caityln Meeks' attack down the left sideline gave Montini a 21-19 lead on its way to finishing off the sweep.

"It's mainly about the energy we had and how we play together as a team," said Meeks, a senior outside hitter. "That really helped today. Even when we were down 1 to 5, it was easier to come back because you're playing together as a team.

"They're really tall and they were really good competition. Playing good teams like that makes us better, and playing in pressure situations against good teams, it makes this better for us to win in two."