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Boys volleyball: Benet takes down St. Viator in 2 sets

Augie Mazza and Drew Rogers helped Benet serve up a two-set East Suburban Catholic Conference boys volleyball win over St. Viator Thursday in Arlington Heights.

Mazza had 3 aces while Rogers' deep serves put Viator in a hole as Benet won 25-18, 25-21.

"We have been working on our serves," said Mazza, who also had 5 kills. "Top spins are something we struggle with so I try to give our team a good look with it. I tried to give them a good look today and it seemed like I had some decent serves."

Benet (2-1, 1-1) never trailed in either set and the Redwings allowed Viator to tie the score only five times in both sets. The win allowed Benet to get back in the ESCC race after a disappointing loss to Carmel last week.

"We talk with our servers about being aggressive," Benet coach Jeff Steinberg said. "We want them to make smart decisions too. So it is nice to see them have some fluidity back the at the service line and take advantage of it."

Mazza's serves helped Benet pull away in the first set. Leading 6-3, Mazza served up 4 consecutive points and ended with an ace as the Redwings surged ahead. Viator, which had 5 service faults in the set, never got closer than 2 points.

Rogers stepped up big for Benet in the second set. He had 4 kills and his deep serves forced Viator into several errors.

The Redwings were able to pull away from a 17-17 tie with kills from Dominic Krzeczkowski, Rogers, Niall Gallagher and a pair from Mazza. Rogers then had 2 perfectly placed serves that forced Viator into mistakes that turned into points.

"I knew I had to play better and push my limits," Rogers said. "I adjusted to the block better and that was my priority."

Ethan Storm had 6 kills for Benet while Peter Shankley and Krzeczkowski each had 2 kills Ryan Tracy and Ben Guth each had 7 assists for the Redwings.

"The guys have been working hard in the gym cleaning up our side of the court and worrying what we do," Steinberg said. "It is good to see that we are improving with each game and improving each day."

St. Viator (2-1, 1-1) was led JC Thomas, who had 5 kills. Jimmy Nottoli, Jack Liedlich, Aidan Harrington and John Zajakala each had 4 kills and Joe Laterza had 3 kills.

"It's tough," said first-year St. Viator coach Brennan Harrington, who suffered his first career loss. "We have a lot of guys coming back from soccer and football. We are going to learn from this and value the adversity."

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