Boys volleyball: Bartlett claims Elgin Invite title

Youth movements tend to bear fruit given time.

Saturday may have been the moment a still-young Bartlett boys volleyball team turned the corner from youthful to fruitful.

Seventh-year coach Bob Schwantz went with a complete rebuild last season, so much so he started four sophomores and two freshman in a playoff match.

That same group opened this season 0-2.

"The first few games were kind of rough," junior outside hitter Martin Radomski said. "We were still trying to come together and jell."

The Hawks entered the Elgin Tournament with an even record following a modest 2-game win streak. They departed Chesbrough Field House with a 7-game win streak after sweeping St. Edward and U-46 rivals Larkin, Streamwood, South Elgin and Elgin to win the title for the second straight year.

"These past few games we've really brought it together," Radomski said. "The future looks bright."

Bartlett (7-2) defeated Elgin (4-3) in the championship match 25-15, 25-19. Junior middle hitter Toiyon Walton punctuated the win by crushing a spike to the floor at a 70-degree angle.

"It's a very competitive tournament," Walton said. "Elgin's a very good team. We just kept fighting hard. Our sets were there. Our passes were even better to set and we came out with the win."

Bartlett prevailed despite a shuffled lineup. Sophomore libero James Ballance was elevated from the JV team to the varsity to replace a missing player yet the Hawks didn't miss a beat.

Everyone contributed in the title match.

Carter Burzlaff slammed consecutive spikes during the same rally to give Bartlett a 23-13 first-set lead.

Walton crushed an assist from Burzlaff to open the second set.

Garrett Jurina caught the endline with a topspin swing from the back-row to make it 3-1. He then block stuffed an Elgin attempt for a 4-2 lead.

Elgin fought back and took a 10-7 lead via an unreturnable ace from junior Luis Ramos.

However, Bartlett answered with 6 straight points to take a 13-10 lead. Jacob Bush made it 12-10 with a smash that deflected off the Elgin block. He and Walton next formed a wall to stuff an Elgin swing for another point.

Bartlett never relented from there. Matt Tomasek's ace staked the Hawks to a 19-13 lead, and Radomski sent a soft shot over two blockers to make it 20-14.

Jurina all but finished it off. The 6-foot-2 middle killed 3 straight quick sets to set up match point, which Walton punctuated with emphasis.

"We don't set our middles as much as we'd like, but we're working on it," Schwantz said.

Elgin finished as tournament runner up to Bartlett for the second consecutive year. The Maroons went 4-1 after coming into the day with an 0-2 record.

"I was very happy with what we had today," first-year Elgin coach Andrew LeGoff said. "To come out and beat all our rivals in U-46 - obviously, we came up short against Bartlett - but we're going to be seeing Larkin on Tuesday so it was really good to build some momentum going into the last half of the season."

Elgin succeeded despite playing with a new setter. Orlando Barrera, normally a libero, set the Maroons for the first time.

"I thought he did a nice job," LeGoff said. "He made some pretty good decisions. He was hustling. I might actually leave him in as a setter now for the rest of the season. He stepped in and did a good job. He helped lead our team."

South Elgin went 3-2, including a win over Larkin to take third place. The Royals finished 2-3.

St. Edward went 1-5 and took fifth place with a 25-19, 25-13 win against Streamwood.