It’s not often Brother Rice finds itself in a deep hole, but when it does, senior outside hitter Tom Phelan knows how to get the attention of senior setter Matt O’Donnell.
“I look at him and say, ‘Me, right now, I want it, this next play,’” Phelan said. “And O’Donnell knows that. If I’m on, he’s going to set me.”
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With the season on the line, the sets came and Phelan bailed out Brother Rice in the biggest way possible.
Phelan landed two huge kills down the stretch as the host Crusaders rallied from a six-point deficit in Game 3 to oust Marist 25-19, 19-25, 25-23 in a wild Brother Rice Sectional semifinal.
Phelan finished with 13 kills, while fellow outside hitter Kyle Springer totaled 18 kills for Brother Rice (30-8). Tommy Kleist added 22 digs and O’Donnell had 38 assists.
Phelan unleashed a kill to force a 22-22 tie. He had another kill to give Brother Rice a 24-23 lead after it looked like Marist would advance after holding a 16-10 lead — and all the momentum.
“Phelan’s been the heart and soul of our team,” Brother Rice coach Dan Dwyer said.
Marty Jepsen led Marist (33-5) with another spectacular performance, putting down 22 kills and showing off a wide range of shots.
Patrick Mahoney added 10 kills, Brady Mack had 16 digs and Rocky Mayer managed 42 assists.
“When you’re up like that (16-10), you go a little bit safe mode,” said Marist coach Jordan Vidovic, who won a state title in the fall with the girls program. “And that’s not what got you there.
“Once you give them a glimmer of hope, they go more aggressive.”
Still, it was a back-and-forth battle that Brother Rice won more than Marist lost.
The Crusaders now advance to face Lincoln-Way East (35-3) at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday with a trip to the state quarterfinals on the line.
Behind six kills from Mark Wroblewski, Lincoln-Way East beat Lockport 25-13, 25-19 in the opener.
Loyola recruit Ian Piet and George Kougan added five kills apiece for the Griffins, who shared the ball with Loyola commit Mike Herlihy sidelined for the remainder of the season with a laceration on his hand.
“I have no idea who’s going to get the ball,” Wroblewski said. “We’re all phenomenal players, in my opinion, but I consider myself one of the lower ones. … All of them are collegiate players and I’m just trying to run for second.”
Paced by four-year starter Anthony Pfeiffer with seven kills and Kyle Dixon with five kills, Lockport (26-12) put up a fight in Game 2.
But it looked like the Porters were always a player or two away from keeping up with the loaded Griffins.
Pfeiffer leaves as the winningest player in program history with 110 victories. He also pushed Lockport to its first regional title since 2004.
“I’m extremely happy with how our season ended,” Pfeiffer said. “Obviously I wanted to win, but East is a great team and sometimes you get out-talented.
“My goal this year was to win regionals, so I’m extremely proud of what we did.”
Lincoln-Way East and Brother Rice will meet for the fifth time this season. East holds a 3-1 advantage.
Lincoln-Way East, Brother Rice and Marist were widely considered three of the top five teams in the state. Only one will advance.
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Logan Malloy is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.