Boys volleyball: Benet starts with triumph over Montini
Tommy Kmieciak was happy plying his trade on the back row.
Then Benet boys volleyball coach Jeff Steinberg asked him to consider switching from libero to setter.
Kmieciak had been a setter as a freshman but switching back to such an important position prior to senior year isn't a transition everyone wants to make.
"I was confronted last year about setting this year and I was excited but kind of nervous," Kmieciak said. "Summer was kind of the first time I'd set for the team and I was pretty shaky and then at club I had some really good coaches and advice there.
"I've been working on it all year and I've gotten a lot of hours in at the gym at Benet, so it's coming along. I've always had decent setting hands from when I played libero."
Kmieciak's varsity debut running the offense was a smash hit. He spread 20 assists among five hitters Tuesday night in leading the host Redwings to a 25-16, 25-13 victory over Montini in the season opener for both teams.
"He really committed this off-season on making that change," Steinberg said. "It's been very evident in what we've seen so far this year.
"He's getting really comfortable in that spot. He understands how to run the offense. He's been a good addition."
If Kmieciak proves to be a steady hand on the tiller, he could be the final piece of the puzzle for the Redwings, who have the talent to cruise to a lot of victories this spring.
Bent did just that against the Broncos, picking apart the defense from every angle. Senior outsides Jack Andringa and John Folts both had 5 kills, as did 6-foot-5 senior middle Connor Simchak.
Another senior middle, 6-7 Nick Crnkovich, added 3 kills and 2 blocks, while senior outside Nick Bratkiv contributed 2 kills and a match-high 9 service points, including 2 aces.
"I have a tough time making my mind up who I'm going to set," Kmieciak said. "We've got tall guys everywhere, so it's like setting them up to hit off a tee, basically. It's really nice."
The Redwings got off to nice starts in each set. Three players had kills within the first 6 points of the opening set as the hosts sprinted out to a 13-4 lead.
Montini rallied to within 21-16 on three consecutive kills by Mark Zheng, but a service error gave the ball back to Benet and Bratkiv closed the game out with three straight points, the last two of which were aces.
It was a similar story in Game 2. This time the Redwings went on a 9-0 run on libero Sean Becker's serve to go up 13-3.
"We've been really trying to speed up our offense at times," Steinberg said. "We have very big attackers and we really need someone that can get them the ball.
"Tommy has been working really hard making sure he an do so. He's been getting the job done so we really like where he's going."
Zheng and Christian Navas each had 4 kills to lead Montini, a growing program that is going in the right direction, if not at the same speed as Benet.
"It's the first game of the year and they're outstanding," Montini coach Brian Opaka said. "We just want to be able to step in and kind of belly up and I think today we weren't able to do that (except) in spurts.
"We're going to keep battling."