A long spell of seven dual matches and one tournament on the road began with a victory for the Volleyball Cats.

The Saint Ignatius varsity volleyball team cruised to a 3-0 win over the Hudson Explorers on Thursday evening. 

The Volleyball Cats advanced to 9-1 overall with the win, the squad's sixth straight victory.

The first set was largely dominated by the visitors. The Wildcats built a 13-5 lead on the backs of Teddy Koncelik, Matthew Stankewicz, Vince Holzheimer, Phil Catanzaro, and David Castele, who all dubbed kills. The Explorers took a timeout after falling behind 16-7. Errors by Hudson sealed the outcome of the first set, and a Stankewicz spike completed the 25-12 Set #1 win.

The Explorers fought hard in the second set. Hudson remained in the running from start to finish. The score sat deadlocked at 12-12 before Hudson made a slight, 5-3 run to steal a small lead. The Explorers continued to hold a slim advantage until the Cats two points in a row to take a 20-19 lead. 

Hudson then rattled off three consecutive points to snag a 22-20 advantage before the Wildcats took care of business. Eric Larsen and Andrew Boeckman tallied kills to send it to set point and a Hudson error finalized the scoreboard at 25-22.

Deflated from the tough loss, the Explorers scuffled and the Cats soared in the third set. The Wildcats recorded an impressive eight aces over the course of the match. Catanzaro's outstanding services led to six aces and a Hudson receiving error to help the Cats roll to an 8-0 lead.

The Wildcats continued to dominate in all aspects of the game as the set continued. The visitors tore off eight straight points to turn a 13-3 lead into a wide 21-3 margin. Hudson fought to win 4 of the last 7 points, but it was too little, too late for the hosts. 

With the victory, the Wildcats are 9-1 overall and 6-0 against Northeast Ohio teams. The squad will have the weekend off before facing Stow-Munroe Falls on Tuesday. 

JV Update: After winning both split-squad matches over Massillon Jackson on Tuesday, the JV Cats defeated Hudson, 25-21, 15-25, 25-11. The squad will return to action against Stow-Munroe Falls for a split-squad match next Tuesday.