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Wildcats Defeat Archbishop Hoban, No. 2 Team in Division II

By Brendan DeVenney '17, 04/12/17, 10:45AM EDT

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Saint Ignatius volleyball, coming off a 3-0 day on Saturday at the Saint Ignatius Invitational, took down the Archbishop Hoban Knights on Tuesday night, 3-1.

The Wildcats beat the Knights in Set 1, 25-20 to start off a  match that saw Saint Ignatius notch 4 big aces. The two powerhouses went back and forth and neither team was able to pull away until the Wildcats ran off four straight points at the end of the set to go up 1 set to 0.

Head Coach Casey Marcelo’s Wildcats then had to battle in a tough second set. The Wildcats held a brief lead in the beginning of the set, but Archbishop Hoban ran off with it and won Set 2, 25-17. In that set, the Wildcats had 6 kills, 13 errors, 6 assists, 2 aces, and 5 digs. The difference was the Knights having 11 big kills.

With the match tied at 1-1, it was on to Set 3, which is the most important set in volleyball, no matter the situation in the match. It was neck and neck the entire set, until the Wildcats forced the Knights to take a timeout, trailing 17-14. Archbishop Hoban would not recover, however, and the Wildcats kept increasing their lead and won, 25-20.

In the third set, Saint Ignatius had just 1 ace, but 14 critical kills to go along with 3 blocks. The Wildcats had 10 errors compared to Hoban’s 7.

With a 2-1 lead, the Wildcats had a chance to win the match in Set 4, and that’s exactly what they did, winning 25-19. Once again, the Knights kept it close, with the Wildcats not having more than a three-point lead until going up 22-18 and locking it down to win the fourth set. Saint Ignatius had 15 kills, 2 aces, 3 blocks, and 17 digs to go along with 7 errors in Set 4.

Overall, Saint Ignatius won the kill battle, 46-40, had 8 blocks to Hoban’s 0, and led in aces, 9-2. Even though Saint Ignatius had 41 errors to the Knights 29, the Wildcats got the big points in the biggest moments from the huge play of JP Purcell, Danny Michals, Quinn Flanagan, Philip Catanzaro, and Richie Holzheimer.

Archbishop Hoban entered as the No. 2 team in OHSBVA Division II, having won eight of its first nine matches, jumping out to an 8-1 record. The Knights had defeated powerhouses such as Walsh Jesuit, Beavercreek, and Mount Vernon. They went 3-0 at the Saint Ignatius Invitational. But the toughness of the Wildcats was too much for the Knights, receiving their second loss of the year.

Saint Ignatius is now 7-1 on the season entering a long break over Holy Week. The Wildcats face the Blue Devils from Brunswick next on Friday, April 21 at Sullivan Gymnasium. Brunswick currently sits at a record of 4-3, and will play Jackson and Walsh Jesuit before the match with the Wildcats.