Servite Finally Gains Victory Over Mater Dei

The Servite volleyball team waited a long time for its first victory over Mater Dei. It finally happened Tuesday with a 13-15, 15-11, 7-15, 15-13, 15-10 win over the Monarchs in a nonleague match at Mater Dei High.

Senior outside hitter Eric Barnes had 30 kills and 25 digs and senior setter Billy Hamilton had 70 assists to help Servite, the seventh-ranked team in the county, rally to defeat ninth-ranked Mater Dei.

Senior Dan Taylor added 16 kills and senior Kyle Smith had 10 kills and eight blocks for Servite.

“A lot of us have been together since freshman year and we’ve never beaten Mater Dei,” Barnes said. “Before the fourth game, coach just reminded us that this was the last chance we’d get. We just went all out.”

Barnes had nine kills in the fifth game, and he had five kills and a block during one stretch that helped Servite score eight consecutive points to turn a four-point deficit into a 13-9 lead.

Later, a Mater Dei hitting error set up match point, and Barnes’ jump serve created an overpass and an easy kill for Servite’s Scott Lambert to win the match.

Mater Dei looked like it would win, especially after Patrick Cope got hot in the third game, tallying nine of his 29 kills. Brian Costanzo (22 kills), Patrick Duchene (21 kills) and Andrew Bice (14 kills, seven blocks) also contributed to the Monarch offense.

And everything was running smoothly for Mater Dei sophomore setter Mike Gazzano (92 assists, seven blocks, 24 digs) before Servite made it interesting in the fourth game.

Mater Dei (4-1) committed seven service errors in the fourth game, and Servite (5-0) took advantage of it, moving to a 12-6 lead before finally forcing a fifth game.

“We made 24 service errors tonight,” Mater Dei Coach Tom Costanzo said. “You just can’t do that against a team like Servite and expect to win.”