Boys Volleyball: Mitch Weiler, Brother Rice edge Providence

Updated: April 3, 2012 2:39PM

When talking about sophomore Mitch Weiler, Brother Rice coach Br. Paul Ickes delivered the ultimate compliment.

Weiler may only be a sophomore, but he sure doesn’t play like it.

“You would never know he is a sophomore,” Ickes said. “He’s very smooth, and he doesn’t get rattled. It’s great having him on-court.”

Weiler finished with 12 kills for host Brother Rice in a 25-21, 21-25, 25-23 thriller over Providence in a rematch of last season’s Catholic League Blue co-champions.

The sophomore outside hitter is coming off a stress fracture in his back that caused him to miss several months in the offseason, but he is showing no lingering effects from the injury.

“Last year I hurt it swinging and arcing back so much,” Weiler said. “I took that time off, made my recovery, and I’m back and ready to play.”

Brother Rice (3-4, 1-0) was dominant in the opener with its service game (4 aces) but surrendered a late lead in the second to force a third game. With momentum swinging back and forth at will, Weiler stepped up for the Crusaders.

With Providence (3-6, 0-1) charging, Rice’s lead shrunk from four to one in a flash. After a Rice timeout, Weiler slammed his 12th kill of the match past Providence blockers for the match winner.

“We drew up that play in the end,” Weiler said. “We executed it, and Dan (Dwyer) put the ball right there to get the win.”

Dwyer finished with 38 assists for Brother Rice with Joe Pochinskas (nine digs), Kevin Myren (six kills) and Matt Kill (six kills) contributing.

Marty Ross had 11 kills and six blocks for Providence with Brian Oddo (eight kills) and Brendan Surane (11 blocks) chipping in.

Coach Brett Krapil chalked up the Celtics’ early season struggles to slow starts.

“It’s never easy to get out of a hole,” Krapil said. “We’ve seen it a few times now, and we have to learn from it. When we do start playing, we see a lot of good things.”

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