Boys volleyball: Bartlett handles Streamwood
After a ragged first set, Bartlett's boys volleyball team was firing on all cylinders in the second set Tuesday.
The Hawks built an early lead and slowly pulled away to down Streamwood, 25-21, 25-11, in Upstate Eight action in Streamwood.
Hawk coach Robert Schwantz hopes the momentum from the second set carries over as the Hawks head into a crucial stretch of the schedule, starting with St. Charles North Thursday.
Martin Radomski led the way Tuesday with 9 kills. Even with all-conference middle hitter Toiyon Walton sitting out with an ankle injury, the Hawks (16-9, 3-0) had plenty of firepower. Jacob Bush added 7 kills, on just 9 attempts, and Garrett Jurina had 5 kills.
"We started to settle down (in set 2) and I told them we had to bring momentum into Thursday," Schwantz said. "We view the two St. Charles teams, Glenbard East and West Aurora as the top four (in the conference). So if we want to get into that top four, we have to beat at least one of them."
A Radomski kill started an 8-3 run as Bartlett took control of the second set, 13-7. The Hawks then scored the final 10 points, the last 9 coming with Sohum Desai at the service line.
In the first set, the Hawks struggled to put away the Sabres, in part because of service errors. At one point, the Hawks put five serves in a row into the net. The Sabres, however, failed to take full advantage, missing three serves of their own in that sequence.
"Once we understand that we just need to get the serve over, we can let our defense do the rest," said Schwantz. "We do have pretty good net defense. Anything that gets by, we have people who can play the ball in the backcourt."
Desai led the backcourt defense with 5 digs, and setter Carter Burzlaff had 14 assists.
Ryan Tiaokhaio led Streamwood with 4 kills while Jack Maybrun added 3 and setter Sam Enno had 12 assists.
"We have no chemistry," said Sabres' coach Sheryl Hettinger. "It's been from day one, chemistry. My talent showed it this weekend in the Elgin game. We had high intensity, we were all together, they played together. And then they get down and we're fighting amongst each other instead of the opponent. And you can see it on the court."
Streamwood never led in the first set, but it was tied at 2, 3, 7, and 8. Bartlett led just 12-11 before reeling off 4 straight points. The Sabres got as close as 23-20 after a Hawk hitting error, but a missed serve put the Hawks on the service line with a chance to close out the game.
A tip by Tiaokhiao kept Streamwood alive, but a line drive kill by Bush finally put it away.