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Mt. Vernon eases past St. Charles in state tourney tune-up

May 17, 2009

by Jim Jicha

“What a great match to get both teams ready for tournament play.” Those were the words of Mt. Vernon coach Alan Cassell after his team got past St. Charles 25-13, 17-25, 25-22, 28-26 last Thursday in a battle of East region favorites. Momentum ruled the first two games, while the last two were in doubt until the end.

The match, added to the schedule just last week, served as an ideal tune-up for the state tournament since the two teams are in different divisions and will never face each other again. 

With Mt. Vernon’s junior outside hitting/setting tandem of 6’4” Carter Cassell and Chris Ingersol pitted against a stubborn Cardinal defense led by libero Zach Hartmann and Damon DiSabato, there were many long and entertaining volleys, especially in the games three and four. 

As expected, St. Charles did a great job of keeping the ball alive. Coach Cassell said afterward, “We knew their back row was going to be very solid, and we needed to play every point until the whistle blew…lots of our attacks that they got up (would be) kills against other teams”. 

The Yellow Jackets prevailed, albeit barely averting a fifth game, and Cassell said a key factor was activity at the net by middle blockers Trey Williams and Ben Bennett. The two combined for 17 out of a team total 29 blocks, scoring on some and getting the Cardinals out of system on others. 

Mt. Vernon broke open a tight first game with a 14-4 run to the finish. The Yellow Jackets jumped out 3-0 on a cross court smash by Ingersol, a kill from senior outside Chris Hinger and a block by Williams.

Sophomore middle Andy Sellan broke the ice for the Cardinals with a soft tip. And after another score by Mt. Vernon, Sellan teamed with senior outside Ned Gruber on a block to start a four point surge that gave St. Charles a 5-4 lead on an ace by outside Matt Van Volkenburg.  

Mt. Vernon quickly regained the lead, however, thanks to a five point run paced by Cassell’s blocking and spiking. The Cardinals closed to 11-9, but Ingersol and Williams led another five point barrage to 16-9. With the score 19-13, junior middle Ben Bennett terminated from the middle and Cassell served out.

Then it was St. Charles’ turn. Opposite/setter Damon DiSabato teamed with Williams on a block, DiSabato aced and setter James Yurkovich tipped as the Cardinals jumped out 3-0. Mt. Vernon closed from 6-2 to 9-8, but Sellan kept St. Charles a step ahead with a kill and DiSabato lined another ace. After an intervening cross court blast by Cassell, Sellan spiked and tipped for two more points. Two saves from Yurkovich and a dig off the ceiling from Hartmann led to another score when Gruber demolished an overpass.

Mt. Vernon closed again to 15-13, but Gruber terminated a Yurkovich quick set and DiSabato crunched an overpass to fuel a four point spurt. The Cardinals glided home from there with Van Volkenburg slamming a cross court shot into an empty right corner for the win.

Things went back and forth in set three as the teams battled through nine ties and four lead changes. Mt. Vernon led 2-0 after a stuff block by Williams, and 4-2 on a cross-court blast by Cassell that followed a save by senior libero Corey Sheller. But Sellan started a Cardinal run with a kill and teamed with Gruber on a block, and Gruber added a tip, solo block and kill down the line to pace the Cardinals to an 8-6 margin. 

Bennett turned the tables, blasting away from middle into the right corner, then terminating a quick set from Carter and block killing, as Mt. Vernon moved back in front 11-8.

A well placed hit by Gruber ended the run, and St. Charles knotted the score again when Mt. Vernon turned a free ball into a hitting error. But Bennett made up for that as he converted an off set into a well placed hit, and Hinger and Williams added kills to pace the Yellow Jackets back in front 16-12.

Sellan reposted with three straight points, and two Yellow Jacket scores later, added another kill. Mt. Vernon obliged with a hitting error and Van Volkenburg, who was now serving, scored consecutive kills from back court to put the Cardinals back on top 19-18.

The teams then exchanged giveaways until a well placed hit by Ingersol ended a long volley and put Mt. Vernon back on top 21-20. Junior opposite Nick Summers terminated a Yurkovich short set, but Bennett put the Yellow Jackets back on top for good with a second effort demolishment, his first try having been kept in play by the agile Hartmann.

The Cardinals followed with two untimely errors, and soon thereafter a spike on the left by Ingersol was blocked out, giving Mt. Vernon a 2-1 advantage.

St. Charles took control at the start of game four, and stayed ahead for most, but alas not all, of the way. Van Volkenburg commenced the scoring with a cross court shot, and after a net serve, Sellan blasted a Yurkovich quick set and Van Volkenburg scored from back court to make it 3-1.

The Cardinals increased their lead to 6-3, 8-4, then to 14-8 on a three point burst fueled by Yurkovich, who short set Sellan for one blast and backset Gruber for another. Mt. Vernon scored two, but the Cardinals kept pace with Summers tipping an over pass to make it 16-10.

But the Yellow Jackets scored two more when Cassell demolished a kill down the right and Ingersol holed a hit into the front middle. After a Cardinal score, Bennett led a four point barrage with a diving save and two block kills to cut the gap to 17-16.

With Mt. Vernon smelling victory and St. Charles determined to force a tie breaker, play became more desperate as the Cardinals scored twice and Mt. Vernon answered back with two. The Yellow Jackets’ second point came when Williams stuff blocked Sellan, who, however, promptly avenged with a ricochet spike off Williams’ hand. An ace by DiSabato put the Cardinals back up by three 22-19, but Cassell ended the ensuing long and intense volley with a kill off the block.

At this juncture, St. Charles obliged with two errors, and another block by Williams gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead. Van Volkenburg tied it with a kill, and when Cassell terminated for Mt. Vernon’s first match point opportunity, Sellan retied it.

DiSabato made a great save on the next volley, which came to naught due to a Cardinal hitting error. But after DiSabato dove twice more for saves, Gruber tied the score again with a smash that was blocked over and out. DiSabato followed that with a block kill to give St. Charles a 26-25 game point lead.

Ingersol, however, retorted with a well placed roll, and a Cardinal hitting error gave the Yellow Jackets their third match point. And when a cross court blast by Cassell was dug into the ceiling, the match was over.

Cassell led Mt. Vernon with 19 kills and 28 assists, Bennett contributed 11 kills and Ingersol added 22 assists and 9 kills.