The second-ranked team in Class 1A, Gehlen Catholic rolled their way to a win over Trinity Christian in the Class 1A Regional quarterfinals last night. The Jays beat the Tigers three sets to none.
Right away, it was apparent that Gehlen Catholic meant business. Gehlen Catholic won the first set by a score of 25-6 and the second 25-4. Head Assistant Coach Kathy Neary, who was filling in for Head Coach Mike Meyer, says that her team came out with a lot of energy to start the match. In some cases, it felt like her team was too energized.
That energy and domination started to fizzle out in the third set. Trinity Christian capitalized on some Gehlen Catholic miscues to make the third set score 9-8 early. The Jays went on to win the third 25-14, but Coach Neary recognizes that things started to fall apart early in game three once they got out of rhythm.
Overall, Gehlen Catholic played a fantastic volleyball game. However, most coaches can find things to fine tune even after a win like that. Coach Neary emphasized the team’s 89% serve success rate last night as one of the things they will work on improving in practice this week.
Miyah Whitehead led Gehlen Catholic in kills and aces in the win with 12 and four respectively. Coach Neary says that the energy Whitehead brings to the court is invaluable during this time in the season.
The Jays have won 18 matches in a row and move on to face MMCRU in the semifinals of the regional on Monday night. KLEM Radio will provide live radio coverage of the match Monday night starting at 6:45.
