AURORA — The Mullen and Regis Jesuit volleyball teams might be perfectly fine with not seeing each other for some time.
Any more showdowns like this, and both teams would likely be out of gas by October.
The area rivals squared off for the second time in less than a week Thursday, and once again the teams battled through a five-game slugfest. This time, however, it was Mullen that prevailed, rallying in the deciding fifth game to record a 15-25, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 15-13 victory at Regis.
Mullen, ranked third in Class 4A, suffered a five-game loss against the Raiders on Saturday during the Regis Jesuit Volleyball Jam. Thursday’s victory snapped the Mustangs’ three-match losing streak.
“We started off the season 3-0, and then lost the next three to really tough competition,” Mullen coach Vilis Ozols said. “Last year, the same thing happened — we beat them in their tournament, then they came back and beat us in our house. This year, we just returned the favor.”
Regis (3-2) claimed the first game, but Mullen never trailed in the second game while evening the match. The Raiders forced a deciding game by controlling the fourth game, and Regis was poised to record its second victory against Mullen in five days after leading for much of the fifth game.
But the Mustangs bounced back late, scoring the final three points of the match and clinching the win when Regis was unable to return the serve of Mullen sophomore Sara Schaefer.
Senior outside hitter Morgan Dye led Mullen with 18 kills and 15 assists. Junior Sabin Laughlin added nine kills, and setter Megan Zuege recorded 27 assists.
Sarah Schmid led Regis with 20 kills.
“I think we freaked out against them a little last time,” Dye said. “This time, we held it together and definitely scored a lot. You can’t freak out if you are behind four points. Regis is a big rival for us, and to beat them will definitely give us momentum.”
