Carroll claims third straight Catholic League title
ASTON — It didn’t matter where Paige Monastero, Meaghan McCann or any of the other members of the Archbishop Carroll volleyball team lined up at Neumann University’s Mirenda Center Sunday. They were efficient and effective at whatever position they played.
That’s the way it’s been all season for the Patriots. They’re a group of interchangeable parts who, when at the top of their game and playing together as they did against Cardinal O’Hara in the Catholic League championship game, are pretty tough to beat.
“That was as well as we’ve played,” Carroll coach Brian McCann said. “We played very, very well all around, serving and passing. We had good setting, good attacking. That was a good, clean volleyball match. (O’Hara) didn’t play bad. We just didn’t make any mistakes.”
It’s hard to make mistakes when you have players as versatile as Carroll.
Monastero, the Catholic League MVP, plays libero for her club team, East Coast Power, and will likely play that position in college. Yet for most of the season the junior has been the chief outside hitter for the Patriots and one of the many reasons Carroll blitzed O’Hara, 3-0, to win its third straight PCL title.
McCann, a sophomore and the daughter of the head coach, is a setter for her club team at East Coast Power, but is Carroll’s other big hitter when she isn’t playing on the back line as a defensive specialist. Leah O’Brien is a right back defensive player in club ball.
Senior Libero Abby Wright and setter Melanie Cotes are the only players who are playing their natural positions.
Yet it was that versatility, and an outstanding defensive performance, that powered the Patriots (16-3) to a 25-15, 25-11, 25-14 victory that took a little more than an hour to complete.
“We all play travel and no one is playing their position right now,” Monastero said. “Everyone is different, but we’re all able to play whatever position we have to play.”
“It’s so beneficial because everyone understands every position, no matter what,” Wright added. “So we know how to adjust and play to whatever team is on the other side of the net … We work together as a team and put the team’s needs ahead of everything else.”
The numbers back that up. The Patriots not only went through the Catholic League undefeated, they did so without dropping a set in 15 matches.
“That was our goal this year,” Wright said. “We wanted to go 45-0.”
“That’s the first time in three years that we’ve done that,” Brian McCann said. “The girls wanted to step up. They really wanted it and to see them do it was pretty cool.”
Carroll did that by taking control of the match early. Monastero had six of her team-high 16 kills on her first eight swings in the first set to help the Patriots jump out to a 17-6 lead. O’Brien recorded two of her six aces in an 8-0 run in the second set that put Carroll in front, 15-4. Coates started the final set with eight straight service points including three aces.
When it was all said and done, Cotes had 30 assists and 13 digs. McCann finished with 15 digs and 10 kills. The key stat, though, were the digs. The Patriots recorded 68 in the sweep.
“Our back line is like a wall,” Brian McCann said. “That’s our style. That’s what we do. We’re grinders.”
The Patriots ground down an O’Hara team whose only losses are to Carroll. The Lions (23-2) put up a fight. Lauren Garvey had six kills. Maeve Boylan added eight digs, five assists, three kills and three blocks. Siobohan Boylan pitched in with four kills and two blocks, but it wasn’t enough.
“That was not our best effort of the season,” O’Hara coach Bill Collins said. “I don’t question their heart. I don’t question their work ethic. If anything, I think they wanted it too much today and put way too much pressure on themselves to try to be perfect. Every pass had to be perfect, every set had to be perfect, everything needed to be perfect and we weren’t.”’
It didn’t help that the Lions lost second-team All-Catholic libero Emily Collins to a concussion three plays into the match.
“We had to rearrange the lineup and had people playing in spots they’re not used to playing in, but no excuse,” Bill Collins said. “The way that they played today and the way we played today, it wouldn’t have mattered. Paige showed why she’s the MVP of the Catholic League and they played great defense. They dug everything out.”
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NOTES >> Carroll and O’Hara qualified to play for District 12 titles. Carroll will play Central for the Class 4A crown Friday afternoon (4 o’clock) at Martin Luther King High School. O’Hara faces Palumbo in the 3A final Friday evening (6 o’clock) at Bonner & Prendergast.
