It's all hard-hitting Hersey, overwhelming Wheeling in 2 games
A consistent quartet of hard hitters led Hersey to its second straight Mid-Suburban East boys volleyball victory.
Brandon Klein, Paul Kolesar, DJ Carroll and Jack Welter combined for 19 kills as the Huskies overwhelmed host Wheeling 25-19, 25-15.
"We've got a lot of weapons, that's for sure," said Hersey coach Jodi Blazek, whose team improved to 7-3 overall, 2-0 in the East. "We like to spread it around, and I have to give a lot of credit to the setters tonight for getting the ball to our hitters, and our defense for their great passing."
Senior setter Nick Witte led the team with 12 assists while freshman Matt Cayton, a nice surprise for the Huskies this year, contributed with 9.
"Witte's doing a great job," said Blazek, "and Matt has been very impressive. He's made some big gains."
Senior outside hitter Dan Hehn led Wheeling (5-6, 0-2) with 5 kills and 5 digs and said that better things are to come for the young Wildcats.
"We've only got a couple of seniors on the team," said Hehn, "but we do have a lot of guys who play club, so we have some experience in that area. Right now we're working on our team chemistry and once that improves we'll be playing a lot better than we are now."
Senior Welter also led the Huskies from the service line with 3 aces, 2 of which just tipped over the net to give Hersey the momentum in the Game 1 win.
"Jack is definitely the guy on this team everybody looks to," said Blazek of the three-year varsity player. "He's a dynamic hitter, and he's stepping up this year and becoming a more vocal leader."
Alex Tapas helped lead a Wheeling surge that saw the Wildcats take an advantage in game 2 but a couple of spikes by Carroll (team high 7 kills) another ace and 6 straight points on serve by Welter, and a final ace by senior defensive specialist Kevin Wenceslao closed out the Hersey win.
Cody Matchen had 10 digs for Hersey while Tapas pitched in with 3 kills for the Wildcats.
"We had some great moments," said Wheeling coach Ed Uhrik, "and we also had moments when we lost our focus. The name of the game is trading points, and when you give away too many points, it's tough."
Fremd d. Schaumburg: The visiting Vikings delivered 25-23, 29-27 victory to remain perfect in Mid-Suburban West play at 2-0. Fremd is 7-1 overall.
Calhan Nolan had 10 kills and Jeffrey Chappell had 7 to lead Fremd's attack, Ian Sykes had 5 block-kills, and Michael Smearmann was 66-for-68 setting with 19 assists.
Glenn Frost had 9 kills to lead Schaumburg, and the Saxons also had strong efforts from Neal Goyke (10 digs, 18 assists), Jason Wojcik (4 blocks), Joe Robie (5 kills) and Kyle Schroeder (9 digs).
Conant d. Hoffman Estates: The visiting Cougars picked up their first MSL West victory of the year with a decisive 25-16, 25-16 victory at Hoffman Estates. David Kim and Peter Lauterbach both had 10 digs for the Cougars (8-6 overall, 1-1 MSL West), and Lauterbach also led the way in kills with 5 and in aces with 3.
Buffalo Grove d. Rolling Meadows: After splitting the first two games with host Rolling Meadows, the Bison produced a 25-14 victory in the third game to remain unbeaten in the MSL East at 2-0.
Chris Falknor led the way for BG (12-3 overall) with 11 kills and also had 8 kills, Joe Duda produced 14-of-14 serving and 18 digs and senior setter Dan Wichmann was 90 of 91 setting with 43 assists. Tyler Vinezeano had 18 kills and Ryan Kedzie had 10 for Rolling Meadows (5-3, 0-2).
Prospect d. Elk Grove: After dropping the first game 26-24, Prospect roared back to win decisively in the next two, 25-13 and 25-14 to maintain a perfect record against the MSL East. Kevin Reed delivered 15 kills for the Knights (8-,4 2-0), Kevin Wolter had 36 assists and James Hoffman had 9 kills.
John Weiland provided 24 assists and Szymon Gierut was 24 of 27 on serve receive for Elk Grove (10-5, 0-2).
Marian Catholic d. St. Viator: Freshman Michael Leazer had a team-best 11 kills but the Lions dropped an East Suburban Catholic Conference contest 25-15, 25-21.