Contorno, Providence cruise past Spartans

Updated: May 16, 2011 8:56PM

Casey Contorno does a little bit of everything for Providence.

“He’s our utility guy,” Providence coach Brett Krapil said. “He is playing out of position. He is setting out of necessity. His strongest position is outside hitter, but we ask him to play rightback, middleback, to set the ball. He does whatever the team needs.

“He’s not always happy about it, but he does it,” the coach said.

Contorno was at least able to manage a smile Monday at St. Francis. The 6-foot senior had nine assists, five kills and two blocks to lead Providence (21-8) to a surprisingly easy 25-19, 25-14 victory over the Spartans.

“We’re playing very well lately,” Contorno said. “It seems like we’re cleaning things up at the end of the year. We are a lot more focused now that for a lot of us our senior year season is ending.”

Providence used a 5-1 spurt aided by a pair of St. Francis errors late in Game 1 to take a 20-16 lead and force the hosts to burn a timeout. The Celtics’ Brendan Duffner sent back an overpass and 6-9 junior Marty Ross smashed a quick set over the middle to end the game.

Tim Sanders’ kill down the line and a service error put St. Francis (22-11) in a 14-7 hole in Game 2. Casey Contorno’s kill and an ace by Connor Contorno extended the Celtics’ advantage to 21-12 before Sanders put the game away with his sixth kill of the match.

Sophomore Brendan Surane had four kills, a block and an ace and Karl Schramm added 14 assists for the winners.

“Brendan and (junior libero Tim) Becker have really stepped up for us,” Casey Contorno said. “We had some huge holes we needed to fill at the beginning of the season.”

Jack Mordell had seven assists and three kills and Matt Krese added five kills for the Spartans, who lost for the eighth time in their last 18 matches. Meanwhile, Providence has won nine of its last 10.

“The guys are doing a great job,” Krapil said. “They’re working hard in practice. They’re focusing better. We’re peaking at the right time.”

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