A lengthy Easter break did not seem to bother the Saint Ignatius varsity volleyball team.
The Wildcats looked as dominant as ever on Thursday evening, rolling to a 3-0 win over Villa Angela-St. Joseph at Sullivan Gym, 25-11, 25-13, 25-14.
The victory marked the team's third straight of the season and sent the squad into an important weekend with some momentum.
The Wildcats started out strong from the get-go. Showing no signs of rust from the long Easter break, the Volleyball Cats burst out to a quick lead. The Cats tallied the first three points, and five of the first six.
The Wildcats' front line dominated through the first set, as Quinn Flanagan showed off his superb ability to pinpoint the ball on a kill. David Castele, Eric Larsen, and other added nice kills, too.
The backline didn't slack, either, as Vince Holzheimer did well as the libero. Thanks in part to a complete team game, the Wildcats kept rolling to a 16-7 advantage. VASJ fought hard, but the Wildcats' ability to surprise their foes allowed the hosts to take the first set, 25-11.
The second set started out well, too. Andrew Boeckman stepped into the limelight, using every inch of his 6'6" frame to power the ball over the net from both the front lines and the service line.
David Castele placed the exclamation point on an 8-2 run to start the game, powering the ball to the back right corner. VASJ took a timeout to regroup, but to no avail. Boeckman tallied three aces in a row as part of 13 straight points by the Cats.
A rare service error by Boeckman halted the rally, but momentum did not lead the Wildcats' side. Flanagan's great serving (he notched 11 aces for the match) helped the Wildcats stretch the advantage to 17-4.
"I started off just hitting the ball as hard as I could honestly," Flangan said. "Then we got up a few points, and Coach [Layden] started giving me spots to hit, spotting their worst passers, and that got us ahead."
Teddy Koncelik and the Cats kept the foot on the gas pedal as the set continued. The junior unleashed a wicked kill to extend the lead to 20-6, one of the many highlight reel plays for the men of Jacob Layden. The Wildcats finished off the set, 25-13.
The third set started well for the Wildcats. Flanagan pumped kill after kill over the net and aced the visitors a couple times to help the Wildcats build a 9-2 lead.
VASJ did not surrender, however, using a 10-3 lead to tie the contest at 12. But that would be nearly the extent of the rally, as Alex Heath notched a big block, Flangan exploited an opening for a kill, and McCaffrey notched an ace to place the Wildcats squarely back in the lead for good. McCaffrey tabbed 3 aces and 26 assists ont the night.
"You have to see around the blocks to hit the spot on the floor," said Flanagan, who notched 9 of the team's 23 kills. "They did have one really big player, who was pretty intimidating at first, almost as intimidating as [Andrew] Chalhoub, but we got around him."
The Volleyball Cats will face their first major challenge of the season this weekend, playing Walsh Jesuit and St. Xavier on Saturday at Walsh Jesuit. The Wildcats will face the Warriors at about 9:45 am and the Bombers at around noon.
"St. Xavier will be a hard one. They didn't graduate anybody, so it will be a tough one," Flanagan said. "Definitely come out and watch. We're ready."
JV action: The JV volleyball team experienced its first loss of the season, suffering a defeat at the hands of a very tough VASJ JV squad. The Vikings won two close sets, 26-24 and 25-23. The JV Cats drop to 2-1 entering a pair of games vs. the Warriors and Bombers, starting at 8:30 am on Saturday.