It was St. Patrick’s day so the luck would have to be on the side of the Irish when they played host to rival Roncalli H.S. The Irish volleyball team showed that while luck may have been on their side, it was their talent and grit that would secure the sweep over the Rebels winning 3-0.
With a great crowd on hand, the Irish jumped out to quick start behind strong serving from senior Ryan Kelley and the offensive power of seniors CJ Voigt and Caleb Short. The Rebels eventually settled in and the score stayed close the entire way with ties at 17 and again at 22. After another Short kill followed by a big block, assisted by junior Blake Kaufman, the Irish were able to close out the first set 25-23. Set two went back and forth with numerous lead changes and ties until Voigt let loose with back to back kills to put the Irish ahead 19-17. A short run by Roncalli put them up 20-21 but the Irish fought back. Applying pressure from the service line, junior Allen Langdon got the Irish back on top 23-21. A huge solo block by Kaufman and another kill by Short gave Cathedral a set two win 25-22. Set three was almost a mirror image of the prior but this time the Irish found themselves down 19-22 forcing Coach Low to call a timeout. The decision proved effective. Setter Ryan Kelley quickly found senior Ben Wagoner who put the ball down sending Kelley back to the service line. Kelley immediately served up an ace which changed the momentum permanently. A kill by Langdon followed by three more Voigt kills and the Irish win set three 25-23 and the match 3-0!!
Caleb Short and CJ Voigt led the attack with 12 and 10 kills respectively and each had 4 blocks. Ryan Kelley contributed 3 aces, 3 kills and 25 assists. The defense was led by senior Nick Toby who had 12 digs.
Congratulations Irish!!
The Irish freshman team also won 2-0, while the JV fought hard but lost 0-2 to the Rebels.
Catch the Irish at home on Tuesday March 20th at WAC against Noblesville. JV starts at 6:00, followed by Varsity. Then on Thursday the Irish travel to Fishers with both the Freshman and JV teams playing at 6:30 followed by Varsity.