Will Cook County News

By Claude Martinez.

Whiting, IN — The University of St. Francis took down Calumet College of St. Joseph on October 20 at the Rittenmeyer Center.

Even though the final score read 3-0 in favor of the Fighting Saints, the match was a battle for both teams, with players growing tired as the match progressed.

Set Scores: 25-21, 25-13, 25-21

Leading the way for St. Francis were junior right-side hitter Alyssa Teske, with 10 kills, nine assists and four digs, and junior setter and right-side hitter Aubrey Phillips, with eight kills, one assist, one service ace and two digs.

Teske was named the WCCN Player of the Game.

First-year head coach Tom Welsh, formerly the head coach at Trinity Christian and Joliet Junior College, highlighted these players and another standout on the court.

“Honestly, Aubrey Phillips is numero uno on that list, I would say, along with Alyssa Teske,” Tom Welsh said. “Aubrey is new. I had her over at JJC a couple years ago, so she’s new to the program, but not new to me. Alyssa Teske [has] just been solid all year, been super consistent.”

“Mya Broadway’s been phenomenal as a DS and a middle back. I just can’t say enough good words about her. She’s been so good. It’s literally just about building what we want to build here.”

After Cara Currier retired following 24 years as the Fighting Saints’ head coach and one year as an assistant coach, Welsh stepped into the role with the challenge of introducing his own coaching style to an established program. He explained the adjustment, saying, “taking over for someone who’s here for 25 years, they have a set of things so it’s now just trying to introduce my way of how I want to do things. So, it’s definitely different and new, but I think everybody’s buying in and loving it.”

He also reflected on the team’s recent ups and downs and emphasized the importance of finishing the season strong. “It’s just about learning, growing, getting better. And I mean, if history is a streak, it’s, you know, we went one and six, we went six and one, we went one and six; now we’re kind of on that back end here again, so hopefully we can finish strong.”

Welsh is always looking for ways to improve his players’ game, which he discussed when asked about the team’s areas for improvement.

“I think it’s just communication, biggest, first and foremost, communication,” Welsh stated. “Make sure our serve receives stays consistent. We ended the start tonight pretty much when our serve receive drops, that’s when a lot of our other stuff drops, but when we’re consistent in serve receive, we’re pretty locked in offensively. So, it’s just continuing to build confidence in that and making sure that our defense continues to play strong. We have a really good block when we want to, so we just need to make sure that our energy and effort is always going when it comes to defense.”

Finally, Welsh expressed his gratitude for remaining in the competitive Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC).

“I’m just happy to be staying in the CCAC. Trinity was great last year. Unfortunately, it closed, but it’s fun to see these girls and make sure they have a good time and finish their careers out here strong for the seniors and build for the future.”

St. Francis will hit the road for its next matchup against Olivet Nazarene University on October 24.

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