Blazers for the block

Addison Trail's boys volleyball team grabbed control of Game 1 against Bartlett on Thursday by doing the one thing coach Tim Murphy wants to see his Blazers improve upon.

Blocking.

Trailing 14-12, Addison Trail (20-4) blocked well in scratching out a lead and never looking back, winning the night's first game 25-18. The Blazers then won the second game, and the match, 25-21.

"We're still not quite to the level of blocking that I want to see, but you saw it for a stretch there," Murphy said. "The easiest way to score points in this game is to serve it inbounds and block it straight down.

"And our passing and our defense, again, kept us in the game."

Blazers middle hitter Jon Hendricks stood out in helping secure the night's first win, as did fellow middle hitter Ryan Merkel. Hendricks led all players with 8 kills on the night and also had 5 blocks.

A Hendricks block put the Blazers up 21-18, Merkel followed with a kill, and Chris Vazquez had a block as Addison Trail closed out the first game.

The Blazers built a 10-3 lead in the second game, Bartlett later cut its deficit to 18-16 on a Brian Limanowski kill, and Bartlett (5-12) fought hard from behind before losing.

"We're still having too many mental breakdowns," said Bartlett coach Brandon Mueller. "We'll get on a streak, but then we'll let them get 4 or 5 points in a row.

"Our defense and our blocking have gotten better, but we have to start holding teams down to 1- or 2-point runs."

Limanowski hit well for the Hawks in finishing with 7 kills, and Tim Rendall set his way to 16 assists. Kris Kuehn also had 7 kills for Bartlett.

Addison Trail got 19 assists from setter Chris Vazquez, and he pointed to another intangible that has helped carry his squad this year.

"We keep our energy up high, even when the other team is scoring points," Vazquez said. "It makes other teams wonder why you're celebrating when they're scoring points."

"It's easy to have energy when you're up by 10 points," Murphy said. "But where are you when you're down 4 or 5 points? Good teams keep that energy, even when they're down."

Christos Dravilas finished with 6 digs for Addison Trail, while Tim Urgena had 7 digs for Bartlett.