Br. Rice posts 'big' win over Caravan

Mount Carmel's Dan Reilly (left) goes up for a block against Brother Rice's Jim Carey.
(Brett Roseman/SouthtownStar)

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With his team on Easter break last week, Brother Rice coach Br. Paul Ickes decided it was time to put his team through some two-a-day workouts in order to iron out a couple of early season kinks.

The fruits of the Crusaders’ efforts began to shine Tuesday in a convincing 25-11, 25-16 victory over Catholic League rival Mount Carmel in the Mount Greenwood community.

“We’ve gotten a lot better over the course of this season, and last week gave us a good chance to work hard and prepare for a real tough stretch of games for us that begins with out game against Loyola on Thursday,” Ickes said.

“Any time you can get a win over Mount Carmel — or any Catholic League team — it’s a big thing, and this one definitely was tonight. Mount Carmel’s a young team, even younger than us, but they have a lot of talent over there.”

Brother Rice senior outside hitter Pat Andrasco (5 kills, 2 aces) also thought the double workouts were beneficial.

“We really worked on our defense last week, and I think that helped,” Andrasco said. “We’ve got a lot of guys with a lot of passion on our team, and I think that really shows through.”

The Crusaders (11-7, 5-1) were led by Kevin Maxwell’s 15 assists and Joe Miller’s six kills. Mike Noyes also contributed six assists.

Brother Rice was without the services of backup setter John Baker, who has been hospitalized for a week because of recurring blood clots.

Mount Carmel (6-11, 2-4) received three-kill efforts from Joe McNally and Kevin Ryan. Setter Dan Reilly chipped in eight assists.

Caravan coach Julie Ryan, like Ickes, sees plenty of potential in her young team.

“We’ve been pretty inconsistent this year,” Ryan said. “We’re a young team, and we start two freshman (McNally and Bob Walsh) and a sophomore (Steve Scannell). Right now, it’s just a matter of improving every game and allowing our guys to gain some experience. We’ve got talent; they just need to get used to playing together.”

Brother Rice raced to a 14-7 lead in Game 1. A 5-1 run late, highlighted by two kills from Andrasco gave the Crusaders a 22-10 advantage.

In Game 2, Mount Carmel never got closer than 9-5. Brother Rice opened a 22-14 lead late, which was constructed thanks to a 7-3 spurt midway through the contest.

The Crusaders closed the match on a Caravan hitting error.

“We’re really starting to come together and play well as a team,” Ickes said, “and that’s good to see.”