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Boys volleyball: Hersey dominates at St. Charles East

The big hitters are back for the talented Hersey boys volleyball team, but it was back-row play that had coach Nancy Lill enthused after the Huskies won the St. Charles East tournament Saturday.

Among the returnees from a team that lost to eventual state champion Glenbard West in a state quarterfinal last spring are 6-foot-7 middle hitter Joe Nugent and outside hitters Jake Mailloux (6-6) and Camran Saeed (6-4), all seniors.

The back row is a different story. Everyone graduated except senior defensive specialist Mike Seneczko.

Another major change? Junior setter Jakub Migus takes over at setter.

Based on their straight-set victories over West Chicago, St. Charles East, Huntley, Oswego and Oak Lawn in the title match, the revamped Huskies appear poised for another state run.

"We're excited about this season, we really are, and I'm even more excited after seeing them today," Lill said. "Our block is phenomenal. To have the defense step up behind it is a great sign. We're big but we have to play the backcourt as well. You have to play defense. You have to play the whole game. Yeah, we're very big and we're a very powerful team. The key is our defensive effort behind it. If we can control that side of the ball, too, we're in great shape."

Senior Christian Hong led Hersey (8-1) with 35 digs, freshman Lucas Irwin contributed 19 digs and Seneczko finished with 18.

Nugent led the Huskies with 14 blocks. Migus had 10 blocks to go with 79 assists in 5 victories.

"Our defense got better as the day went on and we kept hitting like we've been hitting," said Mailloux, who led the Huskies with 35 kills to go with 7 aces and 5 blocks. "We just played great."

Geneva defeated West Chicago for third place, Fenton outlasted Oswego in 3 sets to finish fifth, St. Charles East defeated Elgin for seventh and Plainfield South edged Huntley for ninth in the two-pool tournament.

Geneva (7-10) finished 4-1 on the day, including a straight-set victory over the Wildcats in the third-place match. West Chicago didn't make it easy. The 'Cats won 4 straight points and took a 22-21 lead on a block kill from junior Caleb Kulesza.

It was 23-23 until Geneva junior Will Johnson blasted a winner from inside the right antenna. West Chicago was called for a lift on the next return of serve and Geneva prevailed.

"This is the best volleyball I've seen,' Geneva coach Stephanie Rasmussen said. "We've really been working in practice on the communication aspect as well as being aggressive and maintaining that aggression throughout the entire match and not giving up when we have those leads. This is the first time we've kind of applied everything we've been learning."

West Chicago (8-5) won three matches, lost two and learned some lessons along the way.

"I think we just have to come out and not be stuck in our last point and the mistakes that we made," West Chicago junior outside hitter Grant Howard said. "We just have to overcome that and come out on top."

Fenton finished fifth by outlasting Oswego in a 3-set thriller that wasn't decided until the Panthers, trailing 24-23, mishit a spike attempt long.

"Thankfully, we've been able to close some game threes, which is a change from previous years," Fenton coach Heather Petersen said. "That was huge because we've been working on that all season."

The Bison also defeated Plainfield South and Elgin to finish 3-2.

  West Chicago's Caleb Kulesza stretches for the ball at the net against St. Charles East's Lucas Coker Saturday at the St. Charles East boys volleyball tournament. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles East's Mikelis Brunovskis hits against West Chicago's Brandon Bennett and Peter Osielski Saturday at the St. Charles East boys volleyball tournament. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  West Chicago's Grant Howard slams the ball into the defense of St. Charles East's Lucas Coker Saturday at the St. Charles East boys volleyball tournament. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
  St. Charles East's William Stark and Colin Hanley play the net against West Chicago's Peter Osielski Saturday at the St. Charles East boys volleyball tournament. John Starks/jstarks@dailyherald.com
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