Mueller's first Bartlett team is a young one

The Bartlett boys volleyball program is now led by one of its own.

Brandon Mueller, a 2001 graduate who played at Springfield (Mass.) College and, later, overseas, takes over the program this season for John Breines, the only coach the program had ever known.

Mueller completed his first season as Bartlett's girls volleyball coach last fall. He coached the boys junior varsity team last spring.

"I'm liking it a lot," Mueller said of coaching the boys team. "Everyone is so nice at Bartlett and the kids have been great. Hopefully, we'll keep Bartlett up toward the top. They did well last year and we hope to be competitive again."

The new coach takes over a program in transition. The Hawks went 20-13 last season (7-2 in the Upstate Eight) but graduated starters Chris Guiman, John Campolo, Jason Theobald and Scott Kuehn. The only returning player who saw significant playing time last season is junior middle hitter Alan Strimbu (6-foot-3). He and 6-6 senior Brian Limanowski should provide Bartlett with a strong block.

Five other seniors will see the bulk of the playing time: setter Tim Rendall, who was the backup setter last season; outside/right side Dan Hopkins; outside/right side Kris Kuehn (6-2), who led the Hawks with 11 kills in a two-game sweep of Larkin on Tuesday; right side Tim LaBud; and outside hitter Mark Villaros.

How well the Hawks' defense can dig the ball in the back row and get it to Rendall in good position to set Kuehn, Villaros, LaBud and the middles will go a long way to determining if Bartlett can repeat its 2008 third-place finish in the UEC.

"We really don't have a lot of experience, so this is a bit of a rebuilding year," Mueller said. "But this team busts their (tails) off out there. If they keep doing that, good things will happen. "My main concern is defense and ball control. I think if we can keep the ball in play and pass well, we'll be in a lot of games and you never know what'll happen."