Boys Volleyball: Bobby Walsh lifts Mount Carmel to victory

Updated: May 10, 2012 9:17PM

Mount Carmel’s Bobby Walsh has been playing varsity volleyball for four years. Next year, he will take his immense talents to Lewis University in Romeoville, which recently reached the Final Four of the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Division I Championships.

The prospect of leaving Mount Carmel and continuing his career at Lewis both excites and saddens him.

“It’s a little bit of both,” he said. “It feels like I’ve been on this team forever, but I can’t believe it’s coming to an end. I’m sad to leave, but I’m excited to go play for Lewis next year, too.”

Walsh’s teammates would not mind if his high school career extended a few more weeks into early June. If the Caravan play like they did Thursday at Providence, there’s a chance they can keep Walsh from beginning his college career prematurely.

Thursday in New Lenox, Walsh had nine kills and a block, sophomores Adam Williams and Matt Walsh each had three kills and junior Dominic Villa distributed 15 assists to lead Mount Carmel to a 25-23, 25-16 victory over the Celtics.

“This is a big win,” Caravan assistant coach Laki Hatzelis said. “I think it’s something we needed after losing the last couple of matches. We told the guys at practice this whole week we need to go full steam for the playoffs. Hopefully, we can take the momentum into the playoffs and surprise a lot of people.”

Walsh had seven kills in Game 1 as Mount Carmel (13-14, 4-4 Catholic League) erased a 10-6 deficit with a 17-10 run capped by a kill from its 6-6 senior middle blocker.

“We told Bobby every day we’re only going to go as far as he takes us,” Hatzelis said. “But a lot of guys are starting to come into their own. Adam is starting to step up. Dominic stepped up and led the team pretty well. Everybody’s coming together as the season goes by.”

In Game 2, the Caravan broke an 8-8 tie with a 13-6 run that featured a kill and a block by Carthage recruit Garrett McGarry and an ace by libero Joe McNally.

“As long we play like we did tonight, stick together, play as a team, don’t get down on each other if we make errors, pick each other up, we’ll be fine,” Walsh said. “If everybody just plays their roles, we could do some damage.”

Marty Ross led Providence (13-16, 2-8) with eight kills and five aces and Zac Magallones added four kills and 10 assists.

© 2013 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.