Benet too tough for Joliet Catholic

Updated: May 3, 2011 11:25PM

A youthful Joliet Catholic Academy boys volleyball team will be growing up all over again.

But if Tuesday’s three-set East Suburban Catholic loss to Benet is any indication, the Hilltoppers are prepared to meet the challenge.

With outside hitter Kyle Kirwan the only senior remaining on the roster after Gus Warpinski and Christian Harris left the team, Joliet Catholic dropped a 21-25, 25-17, 25-18 decision.

“Definitely, it was a good effort on our guys’ part,” said Kirwan, who led the Hilltoppers with nine kills and three successive aces in Game 2. “We’re stepping up with a young team. We wanted to put fire and intensity into our serving and passing game, but we just did not execute well enough.”

“You know what happens when you’re young,” Joliet Catholic coach Rhyen Staley said. “The kids do not understand that the coaches are giving them strategies to succeed. All they need to do is execute, then we take the blame if it fails.”

In Game 1, the Hilltoppers (10-11, 2-2) trailed 13-9, got even at 14 and trailed 19-17 before going on a 6-0 run to lead 23-19. Two Benet errors accounted for the final Joliet Catholic points.

The Hilltoppers were right there in Game 2, leading 13-12. But Benet (19-9, 3-1) had two 6-0 runs left in its tank, the second of which closed out the game.

“In runs like that, it comes back to the serving and passing game,” Kirwan said. “We’ll get in the gym (today) and try to step forward and correct the errors we made.”

In Game 3, the Hilltoppers made it interesting when a 5-0 run sliced their deficit to 20-17, but the hitting of Redwings sophomore outside hitter Sawyer Yeazel was too much to overcome.

Yeazel had 14 kills in all. Bobby Wehrli, a 6-5 junior, added nine with three blocks and junior Burke Hrovat had five kills plus six digs. Sophomore setter Pat Dougherty had 35 assists.

“This really came down to serving,” Staley said. “When we got on them with our serve, they struggled. When we didn’t serve well, they took over.

“We had three sophomores out there, and we need to learn to play defense better, with a more aggressive attitude. But we knew that going in. Hopefully we learned something.”

One of those sophomores, opposite/middle hitter Louis Dow, chipped in with seven kills and three blocks.

Hilltoppers sophomore libero Mike Kaminski is out with an injury. But junior setter Nolan Hucek, who sprained his right ankle a week ago, managed to play, surprising even his coach.

“We need to get Nolan healthy, but he’s a trooper,” Staley said. “I didn’t even know he was ready to go at all until right before we started.”

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