Crespi Clinches a Share of Mission League Title

In between the yellow cards, the disputed points, the countless officials’ conferences and the nonstop screaming of fans, they held a whale of a volleyball match at Notre Dame High on Thursday.

Almost overshadowed by the continual interruptions was Crespi’s stirring five-game, three-hour victory, a win that gave the Celts a share of the Mission League title. The scores were 15-12, 10-15, 15-13, 14-16, 15-6.

Crespi (12-2, 10-2 in league play) entered the match tied for first with Notre Dame and Bishop Montgomery, which beat Chaminade in its league finale Thursday. A coin flip today will determine the league’s top representative in the upcoming Southern Section playoffs.

Referee Diane Uribe and umpire Howard Klein had their hands full in the match. Five yellow cards and a red card for unsportsmanlike conduct were issued against Crespi and there were repeated delays as the officials conferred with each other, the coaches, the scorekeeper and line officials.

Late in the final game play was stopped again to escort an unruly Crespi fan out of the gym.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” said Celt Coach Kevin Slattum, who won his first league title in five years at Crespi. “There were so many emotional twists and turns to that match. We didn’t get any breaks, that’s for sure.”

Crespi pulled away from a 12-12 tie to win the first game on Frank Romano’s kill--one of a game-high 13 kills for Romano, who had a season-high 40 kills in the match.

Notre Dame (11-4, 9-3) battled back from a 6-1 deficit in the second game and scored the final five points, winning on Tom Stillwell’s service ace.

The third game was close all the way, but a Romano kill put Crespi ahead, 14-13, and Steve Card’s spike hit the net antenna to give the Celts the win.

The fourth game was the best of the match, despite two 10-minute delays by the officials. Crespi battled back from a 14-10 deficit to tie the game at 14, staving off four game points. But Romano hit wide on a spike and Stillwell sent a kill to an empty left corner to give the game to Notre Dame.

Crespi assumed control of the fifth game from the outset, rolling to a 10-3 lead. The winner came when Morgan Hay was called for a lift while attempting a set.

Tom Black had 32 kills for Crespi and Marcus Sumner added six individual blocks.

Hay led Notre Dame with 25 kills, and Card and Stillwell added 23 and 21, respectively.