Scouting Fox Valley boys volleyball
Bartlett HawksCoach: Bob Schwantz
Conference: Upstate Eight
2015 record: 12-13, 1-5
Top returning athletes: Justin Hayes (jr., OH), Ricky Foster (sr., MH), Nick Arco (sr., OH)
Top newcomers: Omar Owda (jr., S), Devin Zeugner (sr., S)
Season outlook: In his fifth year coaching at Bartlett, Schwantz has a go-to hitter in Hayes who is planning to play college volleyball. "Hayes is a very athletically gifted player," Schwantz said. "He has the ability to hit over a lot of blocks. Our other outside (Arco) hits hard as well." If teams key too much on the outside, the Hawks can also look in the middle. "Foster brings a lot of experience at the middle position and has already been working with some of the younger guys," Schwantz said. "We will definitely need that leadership throughout the season. I have a lot of height on my team so I'm hoping it is put to good use at the net on defense especially." While the Hawks have experience with their attackers, they will be young at setter. "We have some new guys at the setter position, so a lot of our offensive success will be based on how well they play," Schwantz said. This season all 11 Upstate Eight schools with boys volleyball teams will play each other once with the top team being crowned as the conference champion instead of having separate River and Valley Divisions. "We plan on being at or near the top at the end of the season," Schwantz said. "Some goals we have set for ourselves this season include an above .500 record overall and we always want to compete in our conference."
Elgin MaroonsCoach: Scott Stewart
Conference: Upstate Eight
2015 record: 12-24, 1-5
Top returning athletes: Kyle Tayag (sr., L/OH), Rudy Romo (sr., DS), Eleno Montes (sr., RS/S), Patrick Shioli (sr., RS), Courtese Cooper (jr., MB), Walker Demel (jr., OH), Marcus Gonzalez (jr., OH)
Top newcomers: Sergio Cedillo (sr., DS), Sahil Patel (sr., OH), Frank Ceballos (jr., S), David Ramirez (jr., MB)
Season outlook: The Maroons do have to replace Eric Hernandez, a unanimous all-conference player from 2013-2015, along with Travis Paquin, Brian Munoz, Dennis Keophilalay, Scotty Valena and Edwin Escobar. That doesn't mean Elgin isn't optimistic as it tries to better last year's school-record 12 wins. "Our goal this year is simple," Stewart said. "To build on our success from last season. This season, we look to shatter that record." Stewart likes the size and skill of his seven returning players. "We have a very athletic and tall team," Stewart said. "When they are all working together, we're going to be very tough to beat. We're looking to be very competitive in all of our tournaments." The Maroons will host their first tournament this year and are also looking forward to the second annual U46 tournament. "I believe we are very strong at every position and I feel that we should be near the top of our conference this season," Stewart said.
Geneva VikingsCoach: Stephanie Rasmussen
Conference: Upstate Eight
2015 record: 21-17, 4-1
Top returning athletes: David Franz (sr., S), Josh Haston (sr., L), Jonathan Bishop (sr., MH)
Top newcomers: Matt Will (so., RS/OH), Mike Fuller (jr., MH), Matt Johnston (jr., OH)
Season outlook: Rasmussen takes over for Annie Seitelman, who also coaches the Geneva girls team and had her first child last fall. Rasmussen played volleyball at St. Charles North High School and club volleyball at Illinois State and has coached the Geneva girls sophomore team the past two years. "I am excited about my first season as the head coach and expect us to have a successful season," Rasmussen said. Franz, Haston and Bishop are talented returnees who are all considering playing college volleyball next year. Geneva has four other seniors on the roster poised for a strong season. "Our team has a lot of potential this season," Rasmussen said. "We have seniors with a lot of experience and leadership. Coming off a loss at sectional finals last year, the guys want to return to that same position this season."
Larkin RoyalsCoach: Jason Yeates
Conference: Upstate Eight
2015 record: 4-20
Top returning athletes: Alejandro Meza (sr., L), Abel Saenz (sr., OH), Josiah Harris (sr., MH), Angel Rivera (sr., OH), Christian Serrano (sr., RS)
Top newcomers: Alfredo Gallegos (sr., S), Grant Hattendorf (so., S), Sinuhe Carbajal (jr., S), Josue Mendez (so., S)
Season outlook: The Royals suffered a tough break before the season started. Their returning setter is ineligible, and last year's JV setter decided not to play volleyball this spring. That leaves Yeates short-handed at perhaps the most important position on the court. "I've been telling people it's like losing your starting quarterback and backup and playing your third string quarterback," Yeates said. "We just have to see how they perform. We haven't seen them to see what they can do yet. There's going to be some growing pains. It affects how much of our offense we can run and compete and stay calm and stay in control. I just want them to play competitive ball. We're trying to stay optimistic. Anything can happen."
South Elgin StormCoach: Adam Plach
Conference: Upstate Eight
2015 record: 8-28, 0-6
Top returning athletes: Cameron Nylec (sr., OH/MH), Dan Sedlack (sr., MH), Joe Bessler (sr., S), Shil Patel (sr., L)
Top newcomers: Tyler Turner (jr., OH/MH)
Season outlook: Plach lists Glenbard East, West Aurora, St. Charles North and West Chicago as some of the main challenges the Storm will have in his eighth year as South Elgin coach. "We want to be the best team in U-46, finish in the top half of the conference, be competitive in all tournaments and have a winning record," said Plach, whose team has to replace Chris LaCalamita and Jack Scheffler. Plach said whether South Elgin succeeds at those goals will come down to how well it does at the fundamentals. "It starts with serve-receive; can we pass the ball to run our offense, and can we score points with our offense," Plach said. "If we can do that we give ourselves a chance. After that it's those little points on defense we need to do. Take teams out of system with our serve, and set a good block for our defense to work around."
Streamwood SabresCoach: Lisa Harrison
Conference: Upstate Eight
2015 record: 24-16, 3-3
Top returning athletes: Aerone Agdagdag (sr., L/DS), Jeremy Gumila (sr., S/RS), Matt Curyla (sr., OH), Miguel Padilla (jr., OH)
Top newcomers: Flavio Inzurriaga (jr., RS), Gerardo Sanchez (jr., DS/OH), Justin Shomaker (sr., MH)
Season outlook: The Sabres have a number of new faces on the court this spring. Gumila and Curyla are the team's only returning starters and will be counted on both for their skills at setter and outside, respectively, and also for leadership. "It's going to be a rebuilding year," Harrison said. "Definitely a work in progress. We've got to get these guys who haven't been around awhile and are new to varsity up to tempo, up to speed. There's potential." Harrison is waiting to see which of her newcomers emerge. "It's really early to see who is going to step up their game," Harrison said. "They are all trying to figure out who is going to play what positions."
St. Charles East SaintsCoach: Kate McCullagh
Conference: Upstate Eight
2015 record: 16-19
Top returning athletes: Michael Carbonell (sr., OH), Jake Lauger (sr., S), Jim Atilano (jr., DS)
Top newcomers: Chris Foerstel (jr., DS), Shane Breslin (jr., DS), Jason Turnbull (sr., MH), Nick Cayton (jr., RS), Drew Pearce (sr., MB), Dom Sciortino (jr., MH)
Season outlook: The Saints have some key players back including the powerful hitting Carbonell taking sets from Lauger. Even most of the new faces to varsity have been honing their skills during the off-season at the Fox Valley Volleyball Club. The Saints lost to St. Charles North in last year's regionals and hope to go further this year. "We're still determining our identity," McCullagh said. "It's toing to take a little bit of time. We're working on being good teammates and in turn that means hustling and doing what you can to make each other better. We're still refining skills. We're trying to bond and find our place on the team and figure out how to help everybody."
St. Charles North North StarsCoach: Todd Weimer
Conference: Upstate Eight
2015 record: 23-13, 6-0
Top returning athletes: Drew Lanz (sr., OH/RS), Jackson Kolodziej (sr., MH/RS/OH/U), Danny Throop (jr., S/RS), Danny Hamilton (sr., S/RS), David Washington (sr., MH), Zac Cook (sr., DS/U/OH)
Top newcomers: Danny Barsanti (jr., MH), Tommy Koppang (so., RS), Max DeDobbelaere (so., DS), Jack DeDobbelaere (sr., U), Dan Corcoran (sr., OH/DS), Sam Nesbit (sr., MH), Sean O'Leary (jr. L/DS)
Season outlook: Coming off a fourth straight conference championship and also winning the 2015 AVCA team academic award, the North Stars have several talented players back led by Lanz and Kolodziej, both third-year varsity players. Throop, Hamilton, Washington and Cook are in their second year on varsity. While the North Stars graduated Brendan Donlvey, Trevor Gonazaga, Bryan Verstat, Luke Denson, Zach Bonnstetter, Mike Norton and Parker Binning, the newcomers were part of an undefeated conference championship team at the underclass levels (JV, freshman A and freshman B). "We had a great season last year," Weimer said. "We have some great guys coming back and new players who have experience and can hang with the big boys. We are focused and pacing is fast at the varsity level. We want to build off last year's success." If the North Stars are missing anything, it's size. They will need to be on the top of their game this year as the Upstate Eight ditches its two-division setup and crowns one champion among all 11 UEC volleyball-playing school. "We're trying to get all the players on the same page, build consistency in our game play and get all players on the same tempo in match play," Weimer said. "We are not deep in height, but we make up for it with experience and heart. We have 12 weeks to learn and compete so I'm looking forward to each day and how we can build on that. We have some great kids who want to leave a mark before they graduate. It's all about balance between discipline, having fun, working hard and feeling like a winner regardless of the box score. We'd like to think that we are in the mix (for the UEC title)."
St. Edward Green WaveCoach: Rebecca Refenes
2015 record: 4-11
Top returning athletes: Colin Hogunin (sr., OH), Jose Sandoval (sr., S/RS), Andrew O'Neill (sr., OH)
Season outlook: There's some new faces at St. Edward starting with Refenes. After growing up in the Detroit area, she played Division I volleyball at the University of Cincinnati and has coached at various levels for the past five years including girls club and high school, grade school, and boys club volleyball. "Loved every minute of it," Refenes said. The new coach said there might be an adjustment period but is excited to see how the season plays out. "I think my style of coaching has been different for them, but they have been great getting on board and buying into the process," Refenes said. "They still have ways they can improve, and the younger kids look up to them." Without enough teams that play boys volleyball in the Metro Suburban, the Green Wave will look to achieving other goals that aren't always about wins and losses. "I'm not too concerned about records, I just know that if we can stick to the process and play the game to the best of our abilities, the wins will come on their own," Refenes said. "I expect us to be really good passers and servers. I think a lot of games at this level are won by mastering those two skills. Also, ball control comes into play if we want to be able to run our offense."
West Aurora BlackhawksCoach: Tolis Koskinaris
Conference: Upstate Eight
2015 record: 18-17, 4-3
Top returning athletes: Justin Reynolds (sr., OH), Thomas Kovanic (jr., OH), Adam Fitzgerald (sr., S), Chase Kilmer (sr., MH), Tommy Garcia (jr., S), Manny Chaidez (jr., MH), Vincenzo Manella (jr., RS), Erik Haverkate (sr., L), James Roggeman (sr., OH/DS)
Top newcomers: Luke Werrline (sr., L)
Season outlook: In his eighth year, Koskinaris has a talented core to work with including two players committed to Division I volleyball programs. Reynolds, a 6-5 outside and 4-year varsity player, will play at Grand Canyon University, and Kovanic stands 6-6 and is going to Loyola University. "We expect to compete for a regional championship and beyond," Koskinaris said. "Every significant player on our team has at minimum one year varsity experience, most having 2-3 years experience." Those include Fitzgerald and Roggeman in their fourth years on varsity, Kilmer and Haverkate in their third years, and Garcia, Chaidez, and Manella in their second years. Werrline, West Aurora's starting libero in 2014, returns after having left for a season to a high school in Iowa. Not since Matt McKee led West Aurora to state in 2006 has the Blackhawks defeated the team Koskinaris said they are taking aim at - Glenbard East. "Glenbard East will be difficult to overcome," Koskinaris said. "They have been in our heads for the past 8 years."
Westminster Christian WarriorsCoach: Guy Lum
2015 record: 13-18
Top returning athletes: Micah Vanderbilt (jr., S), Danny Kott (sr., OH), Chad Christensen (sr., L)
Season outlook: Lum begins his first year as head coach after working the past two seasons as the Warriors' JV coach. Last year's team set a school record with their 13 wins. They lost middle Matt Swing from that team but return some key players including Micah Vanderbilt, Danny Kott and Chad Christensen. Lum said the team's goals include 15 wins and winning a game at regionals. "We want to be very tough mentally," Lum said. "This team looks very cohesive and we have a lot of seniors." The Warriors don't have much height, which is the one concern Lum has. "Our obstacle is we're a small program so we can't afford an injury."