Giecek, Pats team up to beat Libertyville
Stevenson senior setter Jason Giecek contributed in just about every way possible Wednesday against Libertyville on his volleyball team's most exciting point of the season.
Ahead 17-16 in the first game, a diving pass by Giecek with his back pointed toward the court kept the point alive. He then hustled to his spot on the floor in time for another big dig. He eventually recorded the assist on the same point to give the Patriots an 18-16 lead.
From there, Stevenson went on to a 25-22, 25-14 victory in a North Suburban Conference match at Libertyville.
"He's always on the go and he can make unbelievable plays" Patriots coach Tim Crow said. "After that play, he congratulated everyone on the court instead of (focusing on) himself."
What mattered most to Giecek was that the Patriots won the point.
"Usually when I dive (like that), we don't win the point," he said.
Libertyville (3-2, 2-1) appeared to catch Stevenson (10-6, 3-1) at the wrong time. The Patriots played poorly in the third game of their loss to Warren on Monday, and they were eager for the chance to redeem themselves.
"We talked as a team at practice (Tuesday) and we responded very well," Giecek said.
Giecek was a perfect 42 of 42 setting with 17 assists. Senior Matt Ockrim and juniors Kyle Buck and Brad Feiger each had 4 kills. Ockrim added 2 solo blocks and senior Harrison Kay had a team-high 11 digs.
"We had some good passing tonight," Crow said. "Jason got the ball to everybody, and we were able to run the middle on a number of occasions."
Feiger came through with the decisive kill to win the first game.
"I saw they were blocking cross and I was able to take it down the line," he said.
The only disappointing part of the match for Stevenson was its serving. The Patriots missed five serves in the second game.
After falling behind 13-5 in the first game, Libertyville scored six consecutive points. Down 16-13, the Wildcats ran off 3 points in a row to tie the score.
"I like how they responded in game one," Libertyville coach Steve Rochon said. "We sent (Stevenson) out to a big lead, but we found some weak spots and were able to chip away. We were right there."
Libertyville senior libero Zach Sesterhenn recorded a team-high 11 digs. Juniors Matt Anderson and J.J. Hill each contributed 4 assisted blocks.
"We've got some very emotional players and we panicked at times, but this is a resilient group," Rochon said. "If we can walk away from tonight knowing what happened and how we have to counter (similar situations) differently than this will have been a real valuable experience."