ST. PAUL’S WINS TIEBREAKER

Visiting Mount Carmel succumbed to St. Paul’s and Sidney McCray in a tie-breaker in MIAA B Conference volleyball.

by Joe DiBlasi

In an exciting, down-to-the-wire, two-hour B Conference volleyball matchup St. Paul’s won the game five tie-breaker, 15-6, over visiting Mount Carmel.

“I hit the ball real well…but my teammates did a superb job today,” said Sidney McCray, a 6′ 5″ junior who made several key spikes and great blocks at the net as part of what was a spectacular performance.

“[But] it’s not about me,” McCray said. “I’m very proud of our back-row players.”

In victory, the Crusaders avenged an earlier loss, rising to 10-2 in the conference. The Crusaders are just a half-game ahead of the visitinig Cougars, who dropped to 9-2.

“I can’t say enough about both teams. It was a fantastic match,” said St. Paul’s coach Pat Marsh. “Both sides gave 100 percent. We were fortunate that we had the momentum in the tie-breaker.”

“I give St. Pauls’ a lot of credit, they came ready to play. Sidney McCray had an incredible game,” said Cougars’ coach Jim Flynn.

“Our kids never gave up. We came back time and time again,” Flynn said. “That’s the first loss for us in a tie-breaker, but it should bode well for us down the line. Hopefully, it will help us later on in pressure situations.”

Mt. Carmel’s Stephon Dingle was a great leader on the floor for the Cougars.

“St. Paul’s came ready to play. McCray had a lot of kills,” Dingle said. “Even though we have good blockers, we just couldn’t stop him today”.

The Crusaders lookforward to a rematch with Boys’ Latin, a team against which they suffered their last defeat.

“They beat us the first time,” McCray said. “We’re looking forward to that rematch.”


THE SCORES :    Mt. Carmel 25   St. Paul’s 21
                           St. Pauls     25   Mt. Carmel 18
                           Mt. Carmel   25   St. Paul’s   9
                           St. Paul’s     25   Mt. Carmel 13
                           St. Paul’s     15   Mt. Carmel 6