Cate’s boys volleyball team was getting excited at some pretty random points during Wednesday’s match at Laguna Blanca. In one instance, the Owls made a substitution and the Rams started cheering about it.
“We’ve been working on what we call ‘fake fire’,” said Rams captain Joe Gottwald. “We’re just trying to stay pumped up no matter what the situation is, because sometimes we go through periods where we’re flat.”
Cate's Stu Engs tips the ball around the block of Laguna's Ben Abrams.
The ‘fake fire’ ended up torching Laguna Blanca when it counted, as the Rams surged back from a 9-8 deficit in the fifth set to defeat their Condor League rivals 25-22, 16-25, 25-21, 12-25, 15-10 at Merovick Gym. Gottwald led the way with 23 kills, eight digs and three blocks.
It certainly wasn’t an eternal flame for the Rams throughout the match. They missed three consecutive serves towards the end of the fourth game and ended the frame on two consecutive hitting errors. But the Owls were equally hot-and-cold, allowing Gottwald to nab three kills in a four-point span midway through the fifth game, which allowed Cate to take the lead for good.
“It was a really exciting match but I don’t think we played our best volleyball,” said Owls setter Spencer Dusebout. “You have to give them all the credit in the world for pulling it out when they had to.”
Left-handed opposite hitter Pascal Karam led the Owls with 13 kills and eight aces, while Ben Abrams and Ryan Ortiz each had eight. Parker Lilly had five kills and a block.
Cate continued to get strong play from freshman middle blocker Stu Engs, who had seven kills. The match featured numerous marathon rallies, including one on the first point of the fourth game that went back and forth at least 12 times. Rey Canseco led the victors with 20 digs and Laguna libero Dawson Ingersoll had 17.
Lilly had three aces over four points in the first game as Laguna took a 10-6 lead. The Rams battled back to tie it at 13-13 on a right-side kill by Houston Bradley, and the score would be tied four more times before Cate pulled away in the final points.
Dusebout ended a marathon rally in the second game with a dump-set that dropped for a point and put the Owls up 9-6. Cate clawed back and took a 13-12 lead on a Gottwald ace, forcing a Laguna timeout. Karam was visibly frustrated heading into the timeout, but released his anger by crushing a kill on the next point. He would add three aces and another kill before the end of the set.
The Owls committed two service errors early in the third game as Cate controlled the tempo the rest of the way. The fourth set began with the aforementioned mega-rally, which Abrams finally ended with a kill in the middle that set the tone for the rest of the frame.
Karam had two kills and two aces in the first half of the fifth game, giving the Owls a 7-4 advantage that led to a Cate timeout. But a couple of unforced errors allowed Cate to get right back in it, and Gottwald’s powerful arm-swing was responsible for four key points as the Rams picked up the win.
“Our goal is to win league, and also to get past the first round of the playoffs this year,” noted Gottwald.
Laguna (4-3) hosts St. Joseph on Friday while Cate (4-3) will host Cornerstone Christian.
