Boys volleyball: Hersey finds harmony with super seniors

Hersey outside hitter Angelo Coniglio couldn't have asked for a better evening.

First, Coniglio was honored prior to Tuesday's match against visiting Prospect, along with four of his teammates, on senior night.

Next his dad, Bob, gave a stirring rendition of the national anthem.

"All the guys look forward to it," said Coniglio of his father's musical talents. "It gets the whole team off to a good start."

Then, to put the icing on the cake, Coniglio swatted a game-high 8 kills on 16-of-20 hitting as the Huskies defeated the Knights 25-15, 25-20 for a Mid-Suburban East boys volleyball win.

Hersey improved to 12-3 on the season, 4-2 in conference.

"I loved the way it went tonight," said Coniglio, bound for the University of Iowa in the fall. "Everyone was able to play a large part (in the match). Some of the guys got court that they don't usually get, and they did well.

"It's kind of surreal," added the senior. "I've started to come to terms that this is all going to be ending soon. I finally made it to senior night and I had a lot of fun watching all the great players out here."

Prospect (5-17, 3-3) didn't make it easy on Hersey, especially in the second set when it crept to within 22-19 after a strong kill from Liam Benson.

But Hersey was able to close out the match behind the stellar play of another senior, Ryan Bayerle, who got the final point for the home team.

Prospect, meanwhile, has been standing its ground despite a recent change in the program.

"It's definitely kind of a shaky situation," said Prospect interim coach Peter King, as the Knights are still reeling from the loss of long-time head coach Mike Riedy for the year.

Riedy, who has been coaching the varsity for 24 years, decided to step down for the season to help care for his son, Jack, a Notre Dame junior who was seriously injured in an auto accident several weeks ago.

"It was kind of hard for the guys letting go," said King of Riedy's decision, "but they know that the season doesn't stop, and I think it helps that there will still be some consistency with myself, (assistant) coach Daria (Schaffeld) and the other coaches.

"I think they all understand that family comes first."

All of the Hersey seniors got into the act Tuesday. Bayerle will head to Kansas after graduation; Dan Swan will enroll at Notre Dame; Patrick Nemmer is headed for Ferris State; and John Bouvier's choice is Rose-Hulman in Indiana.

"It's been a lot of fun being around the guys," said Bouvier of his fellow seniors. "I'm not a big talker, and they talk a lot so it's fun just sitting around listening to them.

"I'm looking forward to the rest of the season. I think we're going to be very successful."

Bouvier earned a kill on 5-for-6 hitting; Nemmer was 4-of-4 on attack with 2 kills, Swan hit 4 kills and Bayerle finished 5-of-5 with 3 kills.

Setter Vince Reisel, a junior, made a big contribution to the win, setting 46-of-47 with 21 assists.

"I've played together with Angelo and John all four years," said Bayerle, "with Dan for 2 years and Patrick for 1. It's been amazing, and I'm also friends with a lot of the juniors and sophomores on this team, so I'm looking forward to coming back and watching them play."

Huskies coach Nancy Lill, for one, has a great appreciation for her senior leaders this season.

"It's a terrific group," said Lill. "They're nice kids, they're some of the best students in the school and they're outstanding athletes."

Barrington d. Conant: TJ Murray (7 kills) and Mikey Stefan (5) paced the attack as Barrington remained unbeaten against Mid-Suburban West competition.

Murray and Josh Babicz both had 5 kills for the Broncos, while Evan Carroll generated 20 assist and James Tiao had a team-best 6 digs.

Rolling Meadows d. Wheeling: Marc Quezada had 10 digs and Tommy Murphy 9 for the victorious Mustangs.

Logan Reese (9 kills, 16-for-19 hitting) and Murphy (8 kills, 16-for-19 hitting) led the attack for Meadows.

Buffalo Grove d. Elk Grove: The Bison improved to 6-0 in the MSL East and 15-9 overall with a 25-20, 25-16 decision at Elk Grove.

Daniel Rogowski (6 blocks) and Ian VanWazer (4 blocks) were big at the net for BG, while Zach Schnittker had a team-best 7 kills and 11 assists.

Kevin Braceros led Elk Grove with 6 kills, while Ed Gonzalez had a team-high 14 assists and 4 aces and Anthony Prochenski led the Grens with 13 digs.

Palatine d. Schaumburg: Johnny O'Shea produced a team-best 6 kills on 14-for-14 hitting along with a team-best 10 digs as the Pirates prevailed 25-16, 25-14.

Jake Boldog had 16 setting assists, and Zach Wheaton and Curtis McLennan both had 4 kills.

Fremd d. Hoffman Estates: The visiting Vikings won 25-11 in the first set, then endured a marathon in the second set, finally winning that one 36-34 in MSL West play.

Patrick Kurka (18 digs) and Alex Johnson (10 digs) led the defensive effort for Fremd (7-10, 2-4), while Tyler Larson had a match-best 10 kills and Kaleb Scharman contributed 21 assists on 64-for-67 setting.

Hoffman Estates got 13 digs from Daniel Ham, 6 kills and 8 assists from Alan Zapinski and perfect service efforts from Zapinski, James Swan, Miguel Pineda, Bailey Maze, Ham, Cederian Jones-Stevens and Michael Swan.

Leyden d. Proviso East: Carlos Diaz led the Eagles (8-7) to a 25-10, 25-14 West Suburban Gold win with 7 kills, while Robert Simian contributed 3 aces and Mike Motyka had 19 assists.