The Cubs suited up against the Crespi Celts for senior night in their second Mission League matchup this week and final home league game of the season. A day removed from beating the Notre Dame Knights in four sets away, the 14-3 Cubs face off against the 10-17 Celts. The Cubs look to continue their dominance in Mission League play where they are a league-best 3-0.

Starting Six

6’4” Senior Will Campbell

5’10” Senior Nico Posivak

6’4” Senior Liam Watson

6’1” Senior Xander Hurley

6’0” Senior Jacob Cudiamat

5’9” Junior Finnbar McOsker

Set 1

After receiving the first serve, the Cubs set up Hurley on the opposite side for a kill that gets the Cubs the first point of the game. The Cubs miss their serve but find Watson after a rally for a middle kill that scores. Campbell doubles the advantage right away with a block from the outside. The Cubs then give up a point when they get caught on a tip and allow the Celts to tie when their attempted hit gets blocked. Posivak gets a hit from the opposite side scores with an effort that just barely touches the line. Unable to string together a run, the Cubs give up another point from an opposite hit but win one back with a missed serve. Posivak again scores, this time off a tip, to double the Cub lead. Campbell serves one with serious speed twice on the bounce and twice the Celts can’t return one in bounds. After the Celts finally manage to control the ball, they send their hit out of bounds. The Cubs are up 9-4 before the away team needs a timeout. After the break, Campbell again serves one that’s too much for the Celts. Mohr then gets an emphatic block to score before Campbell’s serving run finally comes to a close. The Cubs don’t seem fazed, though, as their blocking intimidates a Celt hit into the net. After winning the point, the Cubs miss a serve and miscue a hit to lose two points in a row. Two consecutive hits from the home side fail to score before the Cubs finally end the streak to hang on to a four-point lead. Unfortunately, the Cubs fail to send blockers for a hit that wins the Celts a point. They do, however, immediately find Hurley who connects on an opposite kill before the Celts cross the middle barrier. The Cubs send an attempted kill from the back row out of bounds but win back two points off Celt attempts that fly out the side. After winning two consecutive point, the Cubs miss a serve and lose a long rally despite some strong hitting from Campbell and Posivak. Shortly after, the Cubs get caught touching the net. The Celt serve becomes an ace after hitting the net and getting over but the Celts send the hit on their next possession out of bounds. The Cub lead is just three before Mohr marks two blocks that end the away team’s run. A foot fault goes against the Cubs, but the home team shows resilience in finding Campbell for an outside kill. Campbell then embarks on a serving run that sees him grab two aces back to back before sending one past the end line. The score is 23-17 when the Cubs run an excellent play for Posivak to slam one home from the middle. The set then comes to a conclusion when the Celts fail to connect on their final attempted hit.

Score 25-17

Set 2

The six that starts the second set is the same as the six that starts the first in the Cubs’ quest for the three-set sweep. Off Cudiamat’s serve, the Cubs are able to find Hurley on the outside for a kill that marks the first point of the set. Right after, the Cubs win points off the Celts touching the net. The Cubs finally lose a point when they send a serve out of bounds and find themselves tied when their hit attempt goes straight into the net. The Celts make a mistake of their own when they send a serve out of bounds before Watson gets a block for the score. Posivak does that same when he outmuscles a Celt for what becomes a point. The Cubs then win another off an attempt from the Celts that hits the net and and fails to get over. Crespi manages to get one back, though, off an opposite kill that beats two blockers before Watson responds with a powerful hit from the middle. The Cubs get caught watching when the Celts intelligently tip over two blockers. They, however, can’t keep their serve in bounds. Campbell doesn’t have that problem though as he goes on a run that helps Mortimer and Posivak both mark kills. Finally, the Cubs miss a serve before responding with an easy setup for Mortimer. Cudiamat nearly wins a point off a block but the Celts recover to ultimately send their hit out anyway. They do get their next hit over, though, and are down 12-6 as a result. The Cubs extend the lead easily with a Hurley outside hit before the Celts get caught out of rotation. Leading 14-6, the Cubs send their serve out of bounds. Watson uses his size to spike one from the middle that the Celts seemed unable to foresee. The Celts give up the point and another when they send a hit straight into the net. The Celts have a player that slides into the stands after Cudiamat serves one with some spice that is too much for the Celts. The Celts then fail to get a hit over before finally beating a blocker from the middle. An easy floating serve from the away side allows the Cubs to find Hurley on the opposite side for a kill that scores. The Cubs then win the next point when they mark another kill from the outside. The Cubs lose a point off a failed dig but win another off Watson’s mean middle hit. Watson then seems to flex right after when he immediately marks an ace. The next serve goes into the net but a lengthy rally that follows ends in the Cubs’ favor after a hit from the Celts lands outside. The Cubs send their serve out of bounds and fail to dig a strong outside hit but are bailed out by yet another missed Celt serve. The lead is 23-12 when Posivak serves and Hurley marks a kill from the outside. Looking to score the final set, Cudiamat makes a heads-up play that sees him spike one from the middle for a kill that ends the set.

Score 25-12

Set 3

The final six is Luke Turner, Aidan Peters, Chandler Jester, Liam Watson, Henry Wedbush, and Cameron Lynch. The new six immediately set up Lynch for a free kill from the middle that easily scores. The Celts then send a hit soaring out of bounds before sending one straight into the net. Turner makes a heads-up play that sees the team go up 4-0 before Crespi needs a break from the action in the form of a timeout. After the timeout, the Cubs continue the hot streak with an ace from Henry Wedbush. After losing the point, the Celts scramble to return a ball and end up sending a hit flying over the end line. The Cubs lose their first point of the set when they get blocked but find Jester for an opposite kill right after. Crespi gets caught out of rotation before Turner marks an ace for the commanding 9-1 lead. Turner then marks another ace with a strong serve to the one spot. After that, the Celts need another timeout, but Turner comes out of the break to mark yet another ace. The streak comes to a close when the Celts finally manage a kill but Peters marks an opposite kill to make sure the Cubs don’t slide. The Cubs give up another outside kill but win a long rally when Watson gets a kill from the middle. The home side sends a serve into the net and then get caught touching the net but finds Watson right after for yet another middle kill. The Cubs continue to give up points off a missed serve before finding Watson for another kill. The serve for the Cubs goes out of bounds again and the Cubs lead 14-7 before finding Klein on the outside for his first kill. The Celts barely manage to return a tough serve but end up winning the point anyway. The Cubs respond with a block that wins them points before a rally ends with a back-row kill for Turner. The Celts can’t return Turner’s serve before substitutions mean that Hurley makes the off-speed serve that keeps the Celts off balance. The serve isn’t returned, and the Cubs win the point. They lose the next point before blocking one to set up more Cub points. The away side can’t return McOsker’s serve, putting them down 21-9. The Cubs get caught out of rotation and watching on a tip to lose two in a row before the Celts send their serve into the net. The Cubs also send their serve out of bounds before a long rally goes the way of the Celts. Watson responds with another kill that sends the bench into a frenzy with boys falling all over the floor. Posivak keeps the momentum going with an ace and Watson marks an ELEVENTH kill to end the set and the game.

Score 25-13