Cayton a standard-setter for Hersey
Next fall, Hersey senior Matt Cayton will follow in his brother Kevin’s footsteps by enrolling at the University of Arizona, where by all accounts the weather is quite a bit warmer than the Chicago area.
But for now, Cayton could only laugh as he talked about the last couple weeks when the temperatures here have been in the 70’s and 80’s and Tucson have sometimes been in the 60’s.
“There was even a hailstorm there,” said the senior. “Amazing.”
Assuredly, it’ll be much more temperate at U of A by time Cayton gets there, but for now, he’s also looking to have a hot time in the upcoming boys volleyball season.
The setter has been on fire since his freshman season, when he joined the varsity, and has only continued to improve.
As a matter of fact, early this year, Cayton will be breaking the all-time Hersey boys assist record.
The senior, an all-area pick last year who started his varsity career at Hersey as a freshman in a 6-2 system but quickly switched over to a 5-1, begins the year with an amazing 1,723 assists.
He is only 52 away from breaking the Huskies record which is held by Jay Brizzolara. Coincidentally, Brizzolara played on the 2003 team which finished second in state and was led by long-time coach Nancy Lill.
After a break of several years, Lill is back in 2012 to coach the boys again. She’ll take over from Jodi Blazek, who with two young children will now be focusing on family matters in addition to her educational duties as a teacher at Hersey.
Lill, who is also the girls coach, is extremely happy she’ll have such an experienced leader like Cayton in the fold as she takes over the boys reins.
“Matt has really grown as a player,” said Lill, who has been the boys JV coach the past few years. “He is one of the state’s best setters, and one of the top setters in the history of our program.
“He can do so much with the ball. He has the ability to make his hitters be successful, regardless of the pass. He’s developed offensively as well, and is capable of providing a strong swing in the front row.”
Cayton counts his brother, who was a star defensive specialist at Hersey, with being his role model and for introducing him to the sport. He has played club at Rolling Thunder and Pipeline but started out as an outside hitter.
“They needed a setter,” said Cayton, “so I volunteered, and I really came to like the position.”
Although he’s become one of the best setters in the state, he downplays the number of assists he’s accrued and the chance to break the record. Instead, he is focusing on what he says will be his primary goal in 2012 — being a team leader for a squad that returns only two starters from last year’s successful campaign.
“When I was a young player in the system, it was a little intimidating at first,” said the senior. “I’m focused now, as a senior, on being the best leader I can be. I want to be the guy who is there in practice, answering any questions and helping the more inexperienced players improve.
“We’ve been practicing hard and with the talent on this team I think we’ve got a chance to compete for first place (in the Mid-Suburban East). We’ve just got to keep the work ethic that we have now going.”
It’s an extremely strong work ethic that pushes Cayton, who is taking difficult courses this year such as Advanced Placement statistics with the goal of achieving a degree in finance at Arizona.
But for now, he’ll be also focusing on helping his Huskies on the court, and returning coach Lill couldn’t be happier.
“He’s a very humble kid,” said Lill, “but he’s so integral to the success of our program. It is a luxury to have a setter like Matt running our team this year. With his play, he makes everyone better.”