Rice rises to occasion vs. Caravan

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After having a hard time getting past Mount Carmel on Saturday in the Catholic League Tournament, Brother Rice coach Br. Paul Ickes had reason for concern heading into Wednesday’s title match against the host Caravan in the Mount Carmel Regional.

Brother Rice used a well-balanced attack and a good amount of effort to knock off a scrappy Mount Carmel team 25-17, 25-21. It marked Brother Rice’s eighth straight regional crown.

Brother Rice (21-16) will play the winner of the Morton Regional on Friday in a St. Rita Sectional semifinal.

“I was concerned coming in because (Mount Carmel) played us very tough in the Catholic League Tournament — and that was at a neutral site,” Ickes said. “So I knew they’d really be tough on their home floor and they certainly were.”

The Crusaders were led by Ryan Miller’s six kills. Kevin Maxwell (18 assists), Sean McGrath (eight digs) and Pat Andrasco (five kills) also contributed.

“I liked the fact that we were so balanced tonight,” Ickes said. “We’ve really been relying too much on Pat Andrasco lately, so it was good to see a lot of guys contribute and be pretty balanced across the board.”

One of the Crusaders’ top priorities was containing Mount Carmel standout freshman Bobby Walsh. Ickes’ team held Walsh to just five kills and four blocks.

“Bobby Walsh gave us a lot of problems last weekend,” Ickes said. “We had to slow his attack down a little bit tonight, and I think we did that.”

Brother Rice owned a 20-11 lead late in Game 1 thanks to a 7-0 run, highlighted by a pair of kills by Miller.

The Crusaders ran out to a 16-8 lead lead midway through Game 2 before Mount Carmel dug in. A 4-0 run featuring four straight blocks, three from Bryce Bernardi and one from Mike Daly, made it 16-12. The Caravan engineered another 4-0 spurt late, capitalizing on two Brother Rice hitting errors and a block and kill from Kevin Ryan to pull to within 21-19.

After a timeout, Brother Rice forced Mount Carmel into two hitting errors and received a kill by Miller to take a 24-19 lead. The Caravan still wasn’t finished however, as Ryan and Walsh fired down kills to make it 24-21.

Dan Weishar ended the match with a kill.

Mount Carmel (15-19) also received strong outings from Bernardi (three blocks) Ian Zaborowski (four kills, seven digs) and Steve Scannell (eight assists).

Second-year Caravan coach Julie Ryan, who’s team won just nine matches a season ago, sees plenty of potential ahead.

“We’ve got a lot of young players; we only had five seniors, and we started a freshman and a sophomore,” Ryan said. “So we’ve got a lot to look forward to.”