Boys volleyball: Marciniak, Montini sing about triumph
Sophomore Miles Marciniak sang the national anthem before Montini's Senior Night game against Fenwick on Tuesday.
An hour later, the visiting Friars were singing the blues.
Marciniak, a 5-foot-4, 100-pound libero, led all players with 9 service points, including an ace on match point, and was outstanding on defense as the Broncos closed out the regular season with a 25-22, 25-15 Chicago Catholic League crossover victory in Lombard.
"Miles is the guy that is going to be the face of the franchise, if you will, going into next year," Montini coach Brian Opoka said. "He's been incredible all season.
"He's such a model of consistency. Nothing rattles him. He gets hit in the face or misses a ball and he comes right back and gets the next one for us, never really makes the same mistake twice."
On a day when seniors Andrew Vogrin, Nathaniel Lukasic, Christian Navas and Charles Woods were feted for turning a downtrodden Montini program around, it was Marciniak who nearly stole the show.
Fenwick led 19-16 in the first set until Michael Gergen's kill gave the serve to Marciniak, who rattled off the next 3 points to give Montini a 20-19 lead. The Friars tied it, but the Broncos scored the next 3 points again, with Marciniak assisting Woods on a kill to make it 23-20.
Marciniak had a similar effect in Game 2, serving 3 straight points to put Montini up 11-6. The Broncos rode that momentum to victory, scoring the last 3 points on Marciniak's serve.
"He means a lot," Vogrin said. "He's done a phenomenal job getting the balls up and helping us run the offense. He's been a great player all-around."
Vogrin, a North Central recruit, dished 14 assists to go with 6 service points, 3 kills and a powerhouse block that triggered a 9-2 run in the second set.
Zheng added 6 kills for the Broncos (19-7), while Navas and Gergen had 4 kills apiece and sophomore Connor Lindemann tallied 3 kills. It was a fitting final home match for a senior class that transformed a program that won only two games a few years ago.
Montini has won 34 games and two CCL White Division championships in the past two seasons. The Broncos are 12-0 in league play during that time.
"We just kept practicing every day and we just got better and better as a team and the chemistry is fantastic," Vogrin said. "All of the seniors were really excited to play this game but also very sad because we are leaving our school and going onto college.
"It's something memorable that we will have forever."
It was Montini's second win this season over Fenwick, which put up a tough battle. Middle hitter Avyn Alairys had a match-high 7 kills, but no one else had more than 4 for the Friars.
"We've played this team before," Marciniak said. "We know everything about them, so we knew we just had to play our game and if everyone contributed and did their job, we were going to win this game."
And it all started with Marciniak's smooth rendition of the national anthem, something he first did at last year's senior night.
"It's just a tradition," Marciniak said. "I sang in the choir concert last year and (his teammates) found out and they were like, 'Oh, that would be so cool if you could sing (the anthem) on senior day.' So last year I decided to do it and I guess it's going to become an annual thing for me."