Coming off a season that saw the program reach the best record in school history at 22-5, Saint Ignatius Volleyball is looking to continue where they left off, and they showed that in the first week of the season with two big wins over St. Edward and Brecksville-Broadview Heights.

The Wildcats swept the Eagles in Sullivan Gymnasium on Friday night, but it didn’t come without some adversity. The Volley ‘Cats started out strong, bolting to out to an 11-5 lead that saw JP Purcell start out strong and Richie Holzheimer put up some nice sets. The Eagles would try to make it a game pulling the first set to within one, 19-18, but ultimately the Wildcats would come away with the first set win, 25-20.

In the second set, the Wildcats started out strong once again, jumping out to a 7-1 lead, forcing the Eagles to take a quick timeout. That timeout quickly worked for the Eagles, as St. Francis University recruit Phil Margevicius and junior Danny Palumbo worked St. Edward back into the game, cutting the lead to 8-6.

The story of the night was the freshman debut of Quinn Flanagan, and he was phenomenal helping the Wildcats beat St. Edward. He really got going in the second set thanks to the sets from Holzheimer, and the Wildcats a solid five point and then to a 18-13 lead, and won 25-14.

The Wildcats would remain undefeated in their second game, sweeping the Bees of Brecksville-Broadview Heights that saw other players get in on the action, such as David Castele, Ted Koncelik, Aidan McCaffrey, Vince Holzheimer, and Tom Getty. The Wildcats swept the Bees 25-11, 25-21, and 25-11.

The third set saw Brecksville-Broadview Heights jump out to a 9-2 lead, but the senior leadership of JP Purcell took over the set and the Wildcats would walk away with the win.

“The hustle’s there, the hunger’s there for the boys. They’re working really hard for this. And I think we’ve picked up exactly how we ended last year. At the end of the season we were pretty strong, and a little rebuilding. So they’re strong, and we’ve got them real fast, running a really fast offense. So they work really well together,” says Head Coach Casey Marcello in his 10th season at the helm of the Volley ‘Cats.

The story of the season thus far has been the tough freshmen play of Quinn Flanagan, who is part of the future of Wildcat Volleyball. Coach Marcelo can’t be happy enough to have him.

“He does a lot of good things for us. He’s very eager to learn and listens very well, and that’s why he’s improving really well for us. And we’re just looking for some really, really good things from him. As you can see he’s played well thus far, stepping up as a freshman along with the seniors.”

The Wildcats now gear up for a tough stretch of volleyball beginning on Saturday. They face St. Xavier, the fifth ranked team in Division 1, and Walsh Jesuit, the second ranked team in Division 2, on Saturday in a tri-match at Walsh Jesuit. Then the following week they host the Saint Ignatius Invitational, that includes teams like Beavercreek, sixth ranked team in Division 1, St. Edward, Mount Vernon, the tenth ranked team in Division 2, and Archbishop Hoban, the fourth ranked team in Division 2.

It’s important to know that Divisions do not matter in volleyball. The Wildcats are looking to get revenge on the Walsh Jesuit Warriors from last year, after the Warriors swept Saint Ignatius 3-0.