SOUTH CITY • The DuBourg boys volleyball team has much to learn. With just two regulars and four players total returning from last year’s Class 3 runner-up squad, the Cavaliers are inexperienced and, for the most part, young.
“We graduated eight seniors,” DuBourg coach Deb Nichollerat said.
Thursday at home against Althoff, DuBourg showed its youth in the form of mistakes and flashes of brilliance.
The Cavaliers were resilient as they scored a 25-20, 22-25, 25-18 victory.
The win pushes DuBourg to 5-1 on the season. Althoff is now 0-3.
The match was nip and tuck throughout, especially the second set. Behind the impressive service of junior Luke Sandheinrich, the Crusaders gave themselves a cushion. Leading 14-12, Althoff senior setter Vijay Brahmbhatt scored back-to-back kills and the Crusaders went ahead 16-12.
DuBourg put together a rally of its own as sophomore outside hitter Joey Hunyar served three aces and kept Althoff on its heels. He helped erase a 21-17 Crusaders lead and tie the set at 21.
Althoff held the Cavaliers off as sophomore defensive specialist Derek Newgent scored two aces and sophomore outside hitter Brice Miller smashed home a kill to win the set.
In the third set, though, DuBourg was unstoppable and Althoff couldn’t get out of its own way.
DuBourg senior setter Patrick Stagg force fed junior outside hitter Ryan Buttig and the Cavaliers rolled. They led 13-5 before Althoff was forced to take a timeout to try and kill the momentum.
The Crusaders were never able to get things rolling in their favor the way they did in the second set. It was in part because of DuBourg’s solid play but it was also, in part, because of their errors. Althoff was called several times for being in the net, awarding points to DuBourg.
“We can’t make mistakes,” Althoff coach Nickie Sanlin said.
She understood why the Crusaders were in the net. They were trying to be aggressive and attack but the sheer number of times it happened was too many for her liking.
“I can understand two or three a game,” she said. “But not like this, five, six or seven.”
Sanlin believes that with some more experience the Crusaders will round into form. They've only begun the season this week and each of their losses have come during tightly contested matches that could have gone either way.
"It's very tough not to win when you're so close," she said.
Nicollerat echoced a similar sentiment for her own team. She too thinks it will take time for DuBourg to be at the peak of its powers.
"It's a work in progress," she said.
While the Cavaliers are young they are dreaming big. After back-to-back runner-up finishes, their goal this season is to bring home the big prize. That might seem like a tall task given their inexperience. However, with Stagg directing traffic and leading on the court and Buttig moving into a leadership role, it's something they think is very much a possibility.
"Their goal is to get to state again," Nicollerat said. "(Staggs) has done a great job with the younger kids."
