Miceli sets up Elk Grove for victory over Meadows

Jeff Miceli took no offense to Elk Grove coach Dan Windholz's decision to change his offense.

An hour before Wednesday's nonconference boys volleyball victory over St. Viator, Windholz switched from a 6-2 to a 5-1 to make Miceli the lone setter.

On Thursday, the Grenadiers made it 2-for-2 as the sophomore had 32 assists in their 13-25, 25-18, 26-24 Mid-Suburban East victory at Rolling Meadows.

"It made my heart skip," Miceli said of his excitement over the change. "It's a golden opportunity, as my coaches said, to prove myself."

Miceli definitely did to his coaches and teammates such as power-hitting 6-foot-6 Scott Siwicki (31-for-35, 16 kills), Szymon Gierut (16-for-19, 9 kills, 4 blocks), Don Gardner (9-for-10, 4 kills, 3 blocks) and Daniel Roberts (4 blocks). It also allows Danny Friedenfelds to use his passing ability to help the Grens (4-5, 1-1).

"If we pass well offensively we can put the ball away," Windholz said. "We have a lot of options."

When Siwicki rotated out at 24-24 in Game 3, Gierut took care of the rest with a pair of match-ending kills.

"Jeff came through for us," Gierut said in Polish translated by teammate Mike Kawa. "When you ask him for something he comes through and does it.

"In the next couple of years he'll be a big player for Elk Grove."

The third game was a big test of nerves for both teams a Elk Grove had the biggest leads at 6-3 and 14-11 and there were 13 ties. Meadows (0-3, 0-2) took its last lead at 23-22 on a cross-court kill by Jack Nickle (7 kills) and tied it at 24-24 on a kill by Bryan Bourn (18 assists, 5 kills).

"That was a good game but part of it comes down to size," Nickle said. "They've got Siwicki on their team and he's hard for anyone to stop.

"We really need to step up and step up our defensive communication."

There was no problem early as 2 of 5 kills by junior Scott Shewmon sparked an 8-1 tear that gave the Mustangs control of Game 1.

"It seems in the first game we come out and everything rusn smoothly," Nickle said of a similar scenario in a three-game loss to Hoffman Estates. "Our offense was good and our passing was good. In the second game a little collapse happens to us."

Elk Grove finally got going after falling behind 4-1 and 9-7 in the middle game by using a 9-point run to take command.

"We showed more energy and a lot more life out there," said Gierut, who also had 16 digs and was 15-for-15 passing.

"We pushed the intensity and once the hitters get rolling, I get rolling," Miceli said. "Then the passes get rolling and it all starts rolling."

But not in a good way for Meadows on Thursday.

"It's tough when you're on the wrong end of that," Meadows coach Tim Piatek said as he looked at the scoreboard. "Looking up now at 26-24, that's tough. But my guys are pretty resilient and good about staying positive."

Prospect d. Wheeling: Mike Hammersley went 15-for-15 on the attack with 7 kills and teammate Mike Gemkow had 6 as Prospect stopped Wheeling 25-22, 25-16. Kevin Wolter went 40-for-42 setting with 18 assists for the Knights (4-3, 2-0) in the MSL East.

Wheeling (1-4, 0-2) got 5 kills and 6 digs from Mitch Lewis.

BG d. Hersey: The Bison got a perfect 62-for-62 setting effort and 29 assists from Lukas Karch to edge the Huksies. BG prevailed 28-26 in Game 1 and 25-16 in Game 2.

Nick Baronti had 14 kills and Chris Shanahan had 9 for the Bison (12-2, 2-0), who maintained a share of the MSL East lead with Prospect.

Senior Bobby Dolan paced Hersey with 7 kills and Anthony Moreno produced 11 digs.

Palatine d. Conant: The Pirates picked up an MSL West win by splitting the first two games 25-15, 19-25 and then delivering a decisive 25-13 effort in Game 3.

Nat Pearson had 12 kills, 5 digs and 2 blocks and Colin Williams had 4 kills and 3 blocks for the Pirates. Conant (2-5, 1-1) was led on the attack by Vince Petrella (9 kills).

Fremd d. Barrington: The Vikings' Jeff Chappell provided 13 kills and setter Steve Maring was 51-for-51 with 25 assists as Fremd prevailed 25-20, 25-21.

Schaumburg d. Hoffman: Glenn Frost (8 kills, 4 aces) and Sanup Desai (5 kills, 5 aces) led Schaumburg to the 25-19, 25-14 MSL West win.