Girls volleyball: Lincoln-Way Central’s middles too much for Providence

NEW LENOX – When a volleyball team has big, talented players in the middle, it makes things tough for opponents.

Providence Catholic found that out Tuesday night when it tried to combat the twin towers of Lincoln-Way Central’s 6-foot-2 Mia Mattingly and 5-11 Skylar Smith. Visiting Lincoln-Way Central rode the contributions of that combination to a 25-20, 25-16 nonconference victory in a battle for New Lenox supremacy.

“Skylar and I just go out there and do what we do best, which is blocking,” said Mattingly, who had a block and four kills, while Smith had five blocks. “We like to have our offense run through the middles sometimes, too.

“We played pretty well tonight. Our offense is really at its best when everyone is involved, and the setters did a good job of doing that. I am excited for the rest of the year. It’s my senior year, and I want to give it one last ride.”

The Knights (7-2) seemed to be on their way to an easy ride in the first set, holding a 23-12 lead, before Providence (4-5) refused to quit and got seven straight service points, including an ace, from Payton Mandac to pull to within 23-20. Central, however, scored the last two points on a kill by Kiera King, one of her team-high seven, and a Providence hitting error.

It was the third match in a row for Providence in which it played without senior outside hitter Natalie Papes, who was injured during warmups before last Tuesday’s match.

“Natalie is tough to replace,” Providence coach Lee Rucinski said. “She is in for all six rotations when she’s healthy, so we basically need to find two girls to replace her. We’re still looking for that right combination, but we haven’t had many practices without her.”

Mattingly wasted little time making her presence felt in the second set, recording a kill and a block to lead the Knights to a quick 4-1 lead. Providence hung tough, and the set was tied at 8 before Lincoln-Way Central went on a 10-3 run to make it 18-11. It was 12-10 when Madelyn Freiberg went to the service line. The Knights sandwiched kills by Riley Watt and Mattingly around an ace by Freiberg, and then Freiberg reeled off a string of three straight aces before a Providence hitting error made it 18-10. The Celtics’ Ella Phelps got the serve back with a kill, but Central’s Alyssa Teske countered with a kill of her own for a 19-11 Knight lead.

With Central leading 20-14, Mattingly put down another kill, and Smith followed with two straight blocks to put Central ahead, 23-14. Mandac delivered her team-leading fifth kill for Providence, and the Celtics scored on a hitting error by Central to move to within 23-16. The Knights got the serve back on a Providence hitting error, and King ended the match with an ace.

“It’s always fun to play Providence,” Mattingly said. “We call it the Battle of Route 30. I know a lot of their girls from playing against them in school and in club, so it’s fun to play against them.”

Central coach Mary Brown was pleased with her team’s performance.

“We were pretty solid,” she said. “It was a competitive, fun match, and we got on a nice run in the second set. Our middles [Smith and Mattingly] did a great job of blocking. Our setters [King and Teske] kind of got to where they were just setting each other, so we told them to switch things up and include the middles more.

“A crosstown rivalry match like this is always fun. The girls all know each other and they have a good time.”

Mandac had five kills to lead Providence, while freshman Abbey Knight added two. Olivia Stepanek had a kill and a block, while Olivia Cosgrove had a block and Kylie Williams added eight assists.

“We have girls playing in positions they weren’t expecting to play right now,” Rucinski said. “You never expect one of your top hitters to go down, but we’ll figure it out.

“Lincoln-Way Central is a solid team. They bring their lunch pail and hard hat and work hard for every point. When you are working harder on every point than the other team, you are going to get good results.”