October 4, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Mount volleyball conquers Crusaders
by TOM UTESCHER

The second and third games in last Monday’s volleyball match were tooth-and-nail tussles, but visiting Mount St. Joseph Academy gave a more convincing performance in the first and fourth games to emerge with a 3-1 win over the Crusaders of Lansdale Catholic High School.

With their 25-17, 22-25, 25-23, 25-19 victory, the Magic deal host LC its first loss in six outings this season, while improving their own record to 5-3 overall. Since this was a non-league contest (the LC netters play in the Bicentennial League), the Mount’s record remained 1-2 within the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies.

Senior middle hitter Sarah McGorry delivered ten scoring hits and a total of 17 kills for the winners, while fellow upperclassman Chrissy Fesnak hammered out nine hits and ten total kills from the outside spot. Another outside hitter, sophomore Michaela McCrudden, connected on six hits and a tip, and freshman middie Carlie Krill chalked up five kills.

With a total of eight kills in the opening game, McGorry helped the Magic move out to a 12-5 lead, then as some substitutions were made, the Mount seemed to ease off a bit. The Crusaders clawed back and closed it up to 13-10 on a hit by Jen Bebey, but an 8-4 surge reinforced the visitors’ advantage (21-14), and they went on to win by eight points.

Midway through the second game Mount St. Joe was up 16-11, but Bebey and Morgan Glennon helped lead Lansdale back to an 18-18 tie. A little later, the teams were even at 21-all, but the Magic would only score one more point. The Mounties hit the ball into the net twice and then committed a net violation to bring LC to game point, which the Crusaders captured on a hit by Kristen Schoeffling that went out off of an MSJ block.

Throughout the match, and particularly during the two middle games, the visitors’ attention seemed to wander at times. When their concentration ebbed, they would hit serves into the net and commit other unforced errors; in game two MSJ miscues accounted for 14 Lansdale points. While LC may not have had as much pure talent as the Mount, the Crusaders did a better job of maintaining their focus, and played some impressive defense to dig out hits by the Magic.

With the overall match now tied at a game apiece, Lansdale edged ahead, 13-10, in the third round. Mount St. Joe went up by a point, then slipped behind again, 16-17. The Magic secured a side-out on a McCrudden hit, then added three more points on LC errors. A block by Michelle Glemser and a tip by Colleen Rafferty helped the Crusaders keep pace, and the count evened out at 22-all.

A hit by McGorry gained the side-out and LC then hit the ball out over the baseline to make it 24-22, but on the next exchange the Mount sent the ball into the net. The Magic nailed down game point on McCrudden’s hit from the outside left, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.

It looked like the visitors might cruise through the fourth segment, as they went up 7-0 and later led 16-7. Fesnak and McGorry would each post four kills in the game, and Krill recorded three. However, a service ace by Glemser, a block by Emily Robillard, and a tip by Katie Greco contributed to a 10-3 resurgence for the Crusaders, tightening the score to 19-17.

LC would only manage two points the rest of the way, though. After a hit and a tip by McGorry helped the Mount go up 23-18, the next Magic serve went into the net to give Lansdale its last point. The Crusaders tipped the ball out over the sideline and then failed to clear the net on an attempted hit, bringing the bout to a close.