St. Rita's firepower too much for Lyons

A nonconference match with only a few weeks remaining in the regular season might not normally mean a lot to either team. But Wednesday’s clash between No. 5 St. Rita and host Lyons had state tournament implications.

“This was a big match for us,” St. Rita coach Jill Nagel said. “We have our sectional seeding meeting next week and Lyons is the only common opponent for us and Morton. Hopefully, now we’ll be able to get the top seed.”

John Bisiules had six kills and four blocks, Joe Biros added six kills in his first appearance in nearly a month and Nick Ardolino and Pat Hogan each had 12 assists as St. Rita rallied from a five-point deficit in Game 2 to defeat Lyons 25-23, 25-21.

“We had a tough loss yesterday (to Loyola),” Bisiules said. “I’m glad we came out today ready to play. We started out a little slow, but we picked it up, especially defensively. Yesterday, our defense never showed up.”

St. Rita led 23-19 in Game 1 before Lyons (5-8) fought back to tie at 23-23 on kills by Dan LaLonde and Sam Thimmig. But a kill by Biros, who missed almost four weeks with an injury, and a Lyons error squashed the Lions’ rally.

In Game 2, the hosts enjoyed leads of 5-0 and 8-3, but St. Rita rallied to take 15-12 advantage on a block by Andrew Kats. Lyons was still within 20-17, but a reaching over the net call against the Lions and two kills by St. Rita’s Dave Fashingbauer gave the Mustangs a 23-19 cushion.

Bisiules and Colin Anderson combined on a block at 24-21 to clinch the win for the Mustangs (14-7).

“We have to keep playing real well and play hard throughout the rest of the season,” Bisiules said. “We’ve played well in tournaments. Hopefully, we can keep it up all the time.”

Matt Corte led Lyons with 20 assists. Thimmig had eight kills, and LaLonde and Michael Bartman each had six kills and a block.