Despite rough week, Angels cruise

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:24PM

The emotional roller coaster that has been the Joliet Catholic

volleyball team's way of like the last few days had another valley

and peak Tuesday night.

Over the weekend, the No. 6 Angels had the high of winning their third straight

Mizuno Cup title, but also dealt with the low of JCA teacher Jeremy Izzo's

unexpected death.

On Tuesday, they took on East Suburban Catholic rival Providence, and the

Celtics (15-11, 2-4) beat the two-time defending Class 3A state champions

25-19 in the first game.

Joliet Catholic (24-4, 7-0) returned from that valley, however, and peaked with a 19-25,

25-19, 25-18 win that kept them perfect in the ESCC.

It wasn't easy, as Providence shut down the Angels' attack from the outside

in the first game. Nora Mitros, Katie McDonald and Mindy Maloney were

instrumental in the Celtics' first line of defense at the net, and Maggie

Ruettiger spearheaded the defense all night with 12 digs.

Providence jumped to a 4-1 lead and never trailed. The Angels were able to

forge ties at 1, 4 and 10 but the Celtics kept the pressure on and came away

with the 25-19 win in the first game.

"We came out really strong," Providence coach Rachel Ellingson said. "It was

a hard-fought match the entire way. We just let them get too many points in

chunks after the first game. In the first game, we never let them get ahead

of us.

"In the last two games, we let them get ahead by too much and we couldn't

come back."

The Celtics went ahead 4-1 in Game 2, but JCA rallied to take a 5-4 lead on

a kill by Lainey Wyman (nine kills), a block by Morgan Reardon and Vanessa

Owusu and two straight kills by Reardon (10 kills).

The game was tied at 11 on a kill by Katie Urchell, but JCA got a kill by

Kelly Feigh (15 kills) and an ace by Feigh to take a 13-11 lead. The Angels

didn't trail again in the game as a block by Owusu and Jordan Huston, a kill

by Reardon and a four-hit violation put them ahead 18-13. Feigh got the final

kill of the game, setting up a dominant third.

JCA never trailed in the third game, racing out to an 11-4 lead as Feigh

found the range and delivered 4 kills in the stretch.

"Kelly has become our go-to hitter late in matches," JCA coach Christine

Scheibe said. "We came out a little flat, but after Game 1, we cut down on

our unforced errors. I think we had 11 or 12 in the first game. After we cut

those down, we played much better.

"Jordan Huston (29 assists) played all the rotations in Game 2, which is

something she hadn't done all year, and she did a great job."

Providence - which took Marist to three games last week - pulled to within

20-16 in Game 3 on an ace by Lauren Brizgys (six kills), but could get no

closer.

"We had some great digs and some great blocks," Ellingson said. "They did a

better job on serve-receive than we did.

"We are getting better late in the season, which is what we want."

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