Cardinals bounce back from city championships to sweep O'Connell

The Cardinals,'Emileigh Rettig, above, attacked the Knights as a team as well as they have all season on Saturday.

Coach Kathy Gutmann couldn’t quite put her finger on it when Bishop Ireton seemed to be out of sync in a three-game setback to TC Williams in the Alexandria City championships on Friday night. The team had built a 4-game win streak and was playing their best volleyball of the season up to that point. So she didn’t try.

The Cardinals shook off whatever the problem was by Saturday as they disassembled the Bishop O’Connell Knights in three straight games in Father Godley Gym. The first game proved the be the test of wills, with Ireton outlasting the Arlington visitors 29-27. That marathon seemed to set the tone for the rest of the afternoon as the red and gold took charge of the final two games, 25-21, 25-22.

“We have talked about ‘make something happen’ when we get to certain spots in the match.” explained Gutmann. “When the girls got in the huddle and chanted, ‘make something happen’ I figured they were ready to get after it.” Gutmann credited the team with attacking well, taking the play to the Knights and not waiting for a mistake.

“Ashley Cabrera really served the ball well for us. We attacked as well as we have all season. We are back in that groove.” suggested the Ireton coach.

Cardinals head to Elizabeth Seton on Monday to battle the Roadrunners. JV starts at 4:30, varsity at 6pm.