Providence serves notice on Queen of Peace

Updated: September 19, 2011 9:18PM

Providence senior Katie Urchell takes her serving very personally.

“Serving is something that you can really control yourself,” she said. “It’s the only thing you can’t blame on anyone else if you mess up.”

Urchell had nary a “mess up” during the Celtics’ 25-11, 25-12 victory over host Queen of Peace on Monday. She launched all 14 of her serves over the net and in bounds, with 12 resulting in Providence points. She landed five for aces.

Teammate Krista Brakauskas added 11 service points and two aces, while Lacey Hill, Nora Mitros and Alyssa Podwell all had four kills for the No. 4 Celtics (14-2).

Queen of Peace (4-10) was led by Kristi Gierman (5 digs) and Katie Hannon (2 kills).

This is an important week for Providence, which hosts Mother McAuley on Wednesday and will compete in the Rich East Invitational over the weekend in preparation for what figures to be a competitive East Suburban Catholic Conference race.

“It is a big week,” Urchell said. “I mean, to beat a team like McAuley, it would definitely be something to remember and something to really give us some momentum to really go far in the season.

“I think we can do it. I think we have a good team this year, and we have a team that works very well together. So I think we can definitely play against a team like McAuley and execute.”

The Celtics showed no sign of a letdown after capturing the Oak Lawn Volleyball Classic over the weekend. They hit Queen of Peace with a 10-1 run to start Game 1. Urchell was sharp at the service line, running off seven points in a row, three dropping for aces.

“We take every team completely seriously,” Urchell said. “We knew they were a good team, and you want to beat a good team.”

The Pride was a wounded team, with one of its top players, Katie Rotkovich, unable to play because of a knee problem. Peace did show some resolve at the start of Game 2, roaring back from a 3-0 deficit behind a kill and a block by Morgan Miller and a service ace by Kathleen Miller to go in front 4-3.

But Urchell turned the momentum back in Providence’s favor with back-to-back aces during what would be an 8-1 run.

“You’ve got to bring your best game when you’re playing teams like (Providence) and we didn’t,” Peace coach Anne Malone said. “We weren’t able to get anything accomplished tonight. I know we’re a better team than that, and hopefully down the stretch we’ll be able to prove it.”

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