Joliet Catholic blows by Marian Catholic

Updated: September 22, 2011 8:17PM

Starting on one of the state’s most talented teams, Joliet Catholic’s Kelly Feigh and her Angels teammates do not have to take matches over on their own.

The Angels can pick and choose an opportune time to step up, and Thursday at Marian Catholic, it was Feigh stepping into the spotlight.

The senior outside hitter came through with three clutch kills and an impressive service run to close out the first game and help Joliet Catholic to a 25-17, 25-16 East Suburban Catholic Conference win in Chicago Heights.

“We started off flat so we really just try to pick up the energy,” Feigh said. “If we get a kill, let’s go crazy, and that can get us going.”

Morgan Reardon’s seven kills led Joliet Catholic (13-0, 3-0), with Feigh (5 kills), Jillian Hickey (6 digs), Emily Schoenstedt (7 assists, 3 blocks), Hailey Pennington (4 kills, 3 blocks) and Mallory Mangun (11 assists) contributing.

“They can all be stars at times,” Joliet Catholic coach Christine Scheibe said. “We don’t have one player with 14 kills. We always have four or five player with four or five kills.”

Marian Catholic (8-9, 0-3) was led by Amber Clay (7 kills), Rosalind Byrd (5 kills), Colleen Rynne (18 assists), and Kendyl Todd (2 aces).

It was the Spartans who were hanging around in the first game, staying within striking distance at 19-15. Relatively quiet through the early going, Feigh rattled off three kills to go with one from Schoenstedt.

With Feigh serving with a 23-17 Joliet Catholic lead, the Angels closed the game on a Marian error and a Reardon kill.

“We’re still working (on closing teams out), and I think it’s an early season thing,” Feigh said. “We’ve had some injuries, and we’re still getting the hang of things.”

The second game was much of the same, Marian rallying from an early deficit, getting as close as 11-9 after Todd’s two service aces.

Joliet Catholic regrouped and came out swinging, closing the second game on a 14-7 run.

With a young squad featuring only one senior, first-year Marian coach Ryan Summers wants to see more.

“There’s an adage ‘Teams that are good when they’re old are good when they’re young,’ ” Summers said. “We’ve played some tough teams well, but we need to put some streaks together now. The time is now.”

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