The Cathedral Irish came out swinging in the Welch Activity Center in their victory over the Center Grove Trojans. The Irish offense found its mark consistently while the defense was relentless against the Trojan attack. On the evening, the Irish scored 41 kills while the defense recorded 62 digs.
The Irish jumped out to a quick lead in the first set with senior Lucia Corsaro thwarting attack after attack from the Trojan hitters and pulled away from the Trojans on the way to a 25-14 win. Center Grove found their footing somewhat in the second set and stayed even with Cathedral through the middle of the set until the Irish rallied behind three straight kills from senior Sarah Casper to stake a 17-14 lead on their way to a 25-20 win. In the third set senior Mia Finn picked up the reins of the Irish attack and struck for 5 kills as the Irish pulled away from an early 8-8 knotted set score to finally put away the Trojans with a 25-19 win.
The balanced Irish attack scored 41 kills for the match with senior Sarah Casper leading the way with 11. Tandem setters Kelsey Bailey and Mallory Dills continue to move the ball around the court effectively, dishing out 17 assists apiece. Defensively the Irish were anchored by senior Lucia Corsaro who individually notched 22 of the team’s 62 digs with Sarah Casper responsible for 14 more. Cathedral sophomore serving sensation Mallory Dills delivered 2 aces while freshman wall of terror Taylor Lewis contributed 4 total blocks, 1 solo. The Irish earned their first win of the season with the match victory over the Trojans in straight sets (25-14, 25-20, 25-19).
In the JV match, the Irish dropped the first set 14-25 before turning the tables for a 25-13 second set win and a 15-6 third set thrashing of the Trojans. With the win the JV pushed their record to 2-1 on the season. The Freshman Irish sent the Trojans packing with a straight-set match victory and improved their mark to 1-1 on the season.
Next up for Cathedral is Warren Central on Wednesday, August 26, as the Irish go on the road to battle the Warriors in an all-program matchup at all three levels of play.
