Boys volleyball: Bartlett sweeps Geneva in opener

There were two defining offensive moments for the Bartlett boys volleyball in its two-set victory over Geneva to start the season at home on Monday evening.

Matt Tomasek had back-to-back kills for the Hawks after Marty Radomski started a sequence of five straight offensive points with an ace.

The second Tomasek kill completed a 10-2 run that truly evaporated the Vikings' early 3-point lead in the second set.

Bartlett was more on its way, however, to a 25-13, 25-16 straight-sets victory over the Vikings when team conductor Carter Burzlaff had half of his match-high 4 aces in succession to give the Hawks a comfortable late 8-point lead in Game 2.

It was total dominance by Bartlett in the schools' opener as Radomsky registered 2 more kills with his match-best 10 winners than Geneva could muster as a team.

"We were pushing ourselves to get better on every single point," said Burzlaff, who ended the match with a kill. "I think we have a really good chance to go far this year. We always come together when the school season comes around."

In the match-clinching set, James Ballance had the last of the Hawks' 6 kills to give the team a 23-13 cushion.

Serve-receive was a fundamental difference in the match as Bartlett libero Sohum Desai served five straight points as part of a 6-0 run that Geneva never recovered from in the first set.

Geneva (0-1) was clearly suffering from first-match jitters during the spurt that gave Bartlett a 9-3 lead as the team had multiple service errors and technical violations in the opening game.

"In the second game I thought we did a much better job of not making those silly mistakes," Geneva coach Stephanie Rasmussen said.

The Hawks' Radomski made sure Geneva would never find its rhythm offensively in the opening set.

One of 10 seniors on the Hawks' 11-man roster, Radomski had 5 kills in each of the two sets, including game point in the first game.

"I am really grateful to have such great teammates," Radomski said. "It's real easy to play when your teammates are fantastic. We have been playing together for a long time. No one had any jitters. We came out firing, ready to go."

Bartlett (1-0) had other weapons to rely on as well.

Toiyon Walton had 3 of his 4 kills during a second-set-separating sequence for Bartlett.

Will Johnson had 4 kills to pace Geneva.

"We have a lot of kids playing different positions," Rasmussen said. "On the bright side we can only go up from here."