The season comes to a close…

St Francis finished off the season with 2 strong performances, defeating Metea Valley on Tuesday night in 2 games, and giving Glenbard East a tough fight for the Regional Title on Wednesday at home. The Spartans came up short, losing to Glenbard East in 3 sets, but delivered a gutsy performance, coming from behind several times to close the gap.

There were several seasonal highlights:

*Winning the Benet Invitational:  Spartans went 5-0 for the tourney

*Beating Benet Academy twice

*Defeating Glenbard West 3 times out of the 4 matches played

*Runner-Up at the Glenbard East Springfest Tournament:  Spartans went 4-1 for tourney

Another great season for Coach Lynch and Assistant coaches Ston and Roschmann.

Thanks to the Mordell family for going above and beyond all season long for this great group of boys and their families.

Photos from Regional semi-finals vs Metea:

https://picasaweb.google.com/111829085935219503308/SFVBRegionalVsMeteaValley?feat=directlink

Photos from Regional Final vs Glenbard East:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111829085935219503308/SFVBRegionalFinalVsGlenbardEast?feat=directlink

Varsity photo update

Here are new photo albums from the recent varsity games…

LT-https://picasaweb.google.com/111829085935219503308/SFVBVarsityVsLyonsTownship?feat=directlink

Providence Catholic-https://picasaweb.google.com/111829085935219503308/SFVBVarsityVsProvidenceCatholic?feat=directlink

Senior Night-https://picasaweb.google.com/111829085935219503308/SFVBSeniorNight2011?feat=directlink

Wheaton Academy-
https://picasaweb.google.com/111829085935219503308/SFVBVarsityVsWheatonAcademy?feat=directlink

Spartans Finish Season 23-12.

Next Up:  Regional playoffs at St. Francis. Spartans play Tuesday 5/24 at 6:30, with winner advancing to Wednesday’s 4:30 match.

Wheaton (@St Francis) Regional:

Monday, May 23

Match 1 at 6:30pm:  Metea Valley (13) vs. Proviso East (20)

Match 2 at 7:30pm:  Naperville Central (12) vs. Oswego East

Tuesday, May 24

Match 3 at 6:30pm:  St. Francis (4) vs Winner Match 1

Match 4 at 7:30pm:  Glenbard East (5) vs. Winner Match 2

Wednesday, May 25

Match 5 at 4:30pm:  Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4

Come out and support your Spartans at Home!

Spartans Power Past West, again

BY PHIL BROZYNSKI

Apr 30, 2011

Glenbard West just can’t get past the name.

“We’ve played St. Francis three times, and each match has gone three games and we’ve lost by two points each time,” said Glenbard West coach Christine Giunta-Mayer.

So Saturday’s finals of the Benet tournament was just more of the same for the Hilltoppers.

St. Francis (22-7) fought off two match points and tournament MVP Jack Mordell finished off the third game with a kill and a block as the Spartans made it three in a row against their neighborhood rivals, 14-25, 25-21, 26-24.

“We’re a better team,” Giunta-Mayer said. “We play anybody else – Lincoln-Way East, Providence, Neuqua Valley – and we show it. But when we play St. Francis, we can’t get past the name.”

Glenbard West (20-6) rallied from a 20-15 deficit in Game Three to grab a 24-22 lead on a block by 6-foot-5 middle hitter Adam Lepold (10 kills, two blocks). But a lift and a hitting error got St. Francis even, and Mordell did the rest.

“When we come out ready to play and play with energy, we can play with anybody,” said Mordell, who had 13 assists, seven kills, a block and an ace in the title match. “We just came out flat in the first game.”

Glenbard West made quick work of St. Francis in Game 1, building leads of 12-6, 19-9 and 23-11. A dump kill by setter Alex Emanuel (18 assists) gave the Hilltoppers a 17-14 lead in Game Two, but the Spartans answered with a 9-3 run aided by three kills and a block by Ryan Hanrahan.

St. Francis broke a 6-6 tie to grab a 15-10 advantage in Game 3, but 6-1 junior Alex Kahn’s 10th kill of the game pulled Glenbard West even at 20-all. A quick-hitter by Lepold and a Kahn block gave the Toppers two match points at 24-22.

But Mordell refused to let St. Francis lose.

“I think we lost some emotion at 15-10,” Mordell said. “But then we started passing better and putting some balls away.”

Matt Krese had nine kills, Hanrahan added seven kills and a block and junior setter Jake Tibble added 10 assists and a kill for St. Francis. Kahn led Glenbard West with 18 kills and 6-7 junior Ian Lawson added five kills and a block, but he was shut out in Game Three.

“It’s not easy to beat a good team three times in a season,” St. Francis coach Mike Lynch said. “We weren’t creating points in the first game, and you have to against a great team like Glenbard West.

“This is a big rivalry for these kids,” Lynch added. “A lot of them go to grade school and middle school together. They’ve known each other for a long time.”

The teams will get acquainted one more time in a few days when they meet at Glenbard West on May 11.

“I think this match gives us some new-found confidence,” Mordell said. “We haven’t peaked yet. We’re still climbing the mountain.”

Saint Francis Beats Glenbard West for Benet Title

After losing Game 1 to Glenbard West in the finals of the Benet Invitational on Saturday, St. Francis coach Mike Lynch knew the key to the match would be for the Spartans to go to their middle hitters.

The Spartans (22-7) got their middle attack going, especially through Ryan Hanrahan, and wound up with their second straight Benet Invitational championship with a 14-25, 25-21, 26-24 win for the third win this year over neighbor and rival Glenbard West.

“We know nobody can stop Ryan when he’s on,” Lynch said. “And today he was on.”

“After that first game we were a lot stronger,” Hanrahan said. “I felt great and I was ready to go. Our passes were there and our sets were there.”

Hanrahan finished the match with 8 kills and 5 blocks and repeatedly hit key balls when it looked as though the Hilltoppers (18-5) were going to change the momentum and beat the Spartans for the first time.

“We knew we could run the middle with Jack Mordell setting a quicker ball,” Lynch said. “It’s tough to beat a team three times. They’re a good team and this is a real rivalry. A lot of the kids go to grade school together. We face them one more time this year.”

Mordell, who is playing setter for the first time this year, was also outstanding for the Spartans and he was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. He had 8 kills, a block, 16 assists and 2 aces in the finals. St. Francis libero Nick Konchel, who had 5 digs against Glenbard West, also made the all-tournament team.

“We came out flat in that first game,” Mordell said. “Once our passes started falling, I was able to run the middles smoothly and we were connecting on all our sets. We always have to bring our best game to beat Glenbard West. This is a great win, but we havn’t peaked yet. We’re excited for the rest of the year.”

Glenbard West’s Matt Lepold and Kevin McGinnis were also named to the all-tournament team.

Lepold had 10 kills and 10 blocks and McGinnis had 10 digs in the finals.
Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110430/sports/704309741/#ixzz1L97l8GPD

New Position, Good results for Mordell

It’s a whole new ballgame this year for St. Francis’ Jack Mordell.

The Spartans’ only returning starter, Mordell was moved to setter from outside hitter, and he’s adapting to his new position just fine.

“This is a different role for Jack,” coach Mike Lynch said. “He’s doing a great job on a team that goes into the season without an experienced setter for the first time in many years. But he’s moved into the position very smoothly. He just has to get a little more comfortable with the on-court leadership the setter position demands.”

The Spartans are running a 6-2 offense for the first time in five years with junior Jake Tibble operating as the second setter.

But Mordell, who was one of the top passers from the back row last year, adds that extra dimension of being a top outside hitter when he’s in the front row. He’s averaging about 10 kills a match.

“That’s a pretty amazing number when you realize that he’s also setting his teammates for better than 12 assists a match,” Lynch said. “He’s our go-to guy, and he’s our main playmaker.”

Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110428/sports/704289704/#ixzz1L96HLOTI

Rebuilding St. Francis off to Strong Start

On Monday the St. Francis boys volleyball team learned a lesson. On Wednesday the Spartans applied that lesson to the court.

“We just wanted to make sure we came out with a lot of energy. Our last match Monday we came out pretty flat,” Spartans senior Jack Mordell said. “We just wanted to make sure we had a lot of emotion. We can control that, and we used that.”

The Spartans controlled Wednesday’s match, defeating Montini 25-14, 25-13 in Wheaton to run their record to 4-0. They seem to be picking up where they left off last year, a record-setting season that ended 36-3 with a sectional final loss to eventual state runner-up Wheaton Warrenville South.

“This year the first couple of games have been a learning experience,” said Mordell, the lone returning starter. “Everything’s going to come together, and I just expect us to keep coming up. We have a lot of potential this year.”

“It’s been a learning process,” added coach Mike Lynch, “but it’s a great group of athletes to rebuild with. We don’t expect them to have a dropoff this year. We think we’re still a top-caliber team. We’re just getting them to believe in themselves, how good they can be.”

The new Spartans to the lineup are trying to raise their level of play to match their predecessors’.

“I’m trying to step it up,” Spartans senior libero Nick Konchel said. “The team has a lot of new players, trying to get them used to the varsity level so they can play big in big games.”

While St. Francis works to rebuild, Montini (3-7) is trying to build its program. Only two players have club experience, and the team lacks height, but the Broncos didn’t fall meekly to the Spartans.

“We’re going from the basics up, I guess you could say,” Broncos first-year coach Steve Dowjotas said. “Right now they haven’t been taught where they need to be and then how to have that composure through an entire match. We’re still getting there.”

Mordell led the Spartans with 14 assists, 6 kills, 2 blocks and 6 digs. Junior Brendan Roberts added 6 kills, Konchell had 4 digs and 4 service points, Ryan Hanrahan had 3 kills and 2 blocks, and John Portone had 3 kills.
Read more: http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20110406/sports/704069787/#ixzz1L97EcRm6