Boys volleyball: Scouting the Northwest suburbs

MSL West

Barrington: The Broncos will rely on a mixture of youth and experience as they try to make inroads toward the top of the Mid-Suburban West. Powerful senior outside hitter Joe Davidson is back, along with senior setter Rob Weidner, junior outside Matt Logue, senior opposite Jake Nixon and junior middle TJ Shanahan. "Practices thus far have been extremely competitive," said Barrington coach Rob Ridenour. "A lot of kids have been fighting for playing time." The Broncos will also count on some solid incoming sophomores such as middle Tommy Leanord and libero Austin Czarnecki. "Our sophomore class is very strong," said Ridenour. "Their progress throughout the season will have a strong impact on the team."

Conant: The Cougars will have seven seniors in the varsity ranks this year, including Alex Chamberland (libero), Matt Schimel (middle hitter), Sean Engelbreit (setter), and Vince Petrella (outside hitter). According to coach Steven Peter, this type of leadership will be a driving force for Conant. "The seniors we have are great leaders," said Peter, "and I hope to see hard work and dedication from each of them every day in practice. I know they'll passionately battle the opposition on the court and our starters will lead our team to victory." Peter will also count on Zach Lindeman, a junior, to make his mark at the outside hitter position.

Fremd: The perennially succesful Vikings have some strong players back from last year's 30-7 regional championship squad, which won three invitationals and the MSL title in 2009. Brian Allen is back in the middle, along with outside hitter Jeff Chappell, defensive specialist Justin Sohn, outside hitter Eric Ciura, setter Steve Maring, and defensive specialist Kolbe Stenoien. "We have some good size," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley, "but we'll be inexperienced. This team is very hard-working and I am sure that this work ethic will pay off later in the season. We look forward to the challenges."

Hoffman Estates: The Hawks have a number of players who have worked extremely hard in the off-season to improve, and coach Dan Hutton is counting on that work ethic to translate into more wins this season. "We look to improve our record from year to year," said Hutton, "and these athletes that we have are ready to play." Seniors Patrick Pugasa (opposite) and Kaushik Andra (setter) will be counted on, as will juniors Kyle Caldwell (outside), Anthony Christianson (middle) and Franco Fumagalli (middle). "Captains Kyle (Caldwell) and Kaushik (Andra) will be great leaders on and off the court," said Hutton. "They'll be pushing everyone to play as a team."

Palatine: The Pirates came on strong near the latter part of 2009 as evidenced by a win over powerful Stevenson. Palatine was third in the MSL West last year and returns a strong nucleus that includes 3-year varsity starter Nat Pearson at the outside hitter position. An experienced group of seniors return as well with Colin Williams (middle), Pat O'Shea (outside) and Adam Hebein (libero) looking to make an impression. Seniors Chris Frankel, Brian Theis and Enrique Jimenez lead a strong newcomer class. "We're hoping to take a little experience and a lot of competitiveness to every match," said Palaine coadh Frank Stark. "We should have a lot of fun this season - I can't speak highly enough of the individuals and families we have in our program."

Schaumburg: The Saxons retun a hard-working group that hope to continue their recent success. Seniors Glenn Frost (outside hitter with 256 kills last year), Sanup Desai (outside hitter), and Jason Wojcik (middle) are back, along with senior OH Nate Andre, and they'll be supported by ambitious newcomers Adam Miller (senior libero) and Chris Baker (senior middle) among others. "We've got a strong nucleus," said Schaumburg coach Kyle Reid. "Captains Sanup (Desai) and Jason (Wojcik) are going to lead us to a lot of exciting victories, Glenn (Frost) will continue to be an offensive force and Adam (Miller) is going to provide big serves and great defense from the libero position."

MSL East

Buffalo Grove: Bison eyes are on the prize this year as BG hopes to claim the top award at the state tournament after finishing in the top four in three of the last four years. "This could end up being our best team yet," said BG coach Matt Aiello. "They feel like they have some unfinished business to take care of." Six-foot-9 right side Nick Baronti is back as is 6-4 outside hitter Chris Shanahan. Mike Jambrone moves to OH this year and 6-6 Sam Wacker returns in the middle to solidify the block. Lukas Karch will handle the setting duties. "We're not too concerned with regular-season records or tournament T-shirts," said Aiello. "We have the mentality that we want to work to get better everday and be ready for the postseason."

Elk Grove: The Grenadiers will be one of the more youthful teams in the Mid-Suburban League this year. But according to coach Dan Windholz, some returning seniors, such as 6-6 Scott Siwicki and Syzmon Geirut, will be a stabilizing force. "We've got some young players this year," said Windholz, "but we've already competed in a high-caliber tournament, so the shock of competing at the varsity level has kind of won off." Unfortunately, the injury bug has already struck in a big way for the Grens, as two players who were penciled in as starters, Rich Krevald and Dan Patel, are hurt are won't return until late May. "We'll be counting on our seniors and some young kids ready to step up and fill in," added Windholz.

Hersey: The Huskies have impressed right out of the gate this year with a strong showing at BG's Bison Battle. They only hope to build on that performance and last year's success with returnees Paul Kolesar (senior, middle blocker), Greg Torvik (senior, opposite), Bobby Dolan (senior, MB/L), Brandon Klein (senior, outside hitter) and Matt Cayton (sophomore setter). "We have a strong group of returning players and some talented newcomers," said Hersey coach Jodi Blazek. "We have five returning players that were starters or regular subs last year so we're looking forward to strong leadership." Seniors Rob Jackson, Brad Schulze, and Anthony Moreno are some of the new varsity players.

Prospect: The Knights have lost some key players from last year's regional championship team such as Kevin Reed and James Hoffman. But they still return some key players from the team that finished 22-13 overall and took second in the East. All-area star Kevin Wolter (setter) is back to lead returnees such as Mike Gemkow, PJ Benson, and Sean Baltowski. "Many of this year's starters have varsity experience," said Prospect coach Mike Riedy, "so they should come together quickly as a team." Seniors Mike Hammersley and Jake Suckow should make an impact as well. "We're hoping to continue our success in conference and advance even further in the postseason," added Riedy.

Rolling Meadows: The Mustangs excelled in 2009 with a 20-13 record. They've lost some talented players such as all-conference stars Weston Genovese and Tyler Vinezeano but are counting on senior retunrees Brian Bourn (setter/right side), Neal Butler (setter/right side), Matt Frey (DS), Steve Judson (libero) and Jack Nickle (outside hitter) to pick up the slack. Also coming back is basketball player Kyle Weiner (outside). "I am extremely excited about this season," said first-year coach and Meadows alum Tim Piatek, who has had previous head coaching experience at Elgin and Neuqua Valley. Scott Shewmon (junior middle) and Kevin Sobkowicz (junior middle) add some needed depth to the Meadows attack.

Wheeling: The young Wildcats gathered some much-needed experience in 2009 and return most players from that squad. Senior middles Matt Levine and Zach Kreul, both starters last season are back, as well as outside hitter Mich Lewis, another senior. Dan Speidel (junior setter) and Bikram Chohan (senior libero) were both starters as well last year so Wheeling will boast some players with a lot of game experience. "We struggled last year," said Wheeling coach Ed Uhrik. "But we graduated only two players and the returnees have a lot of pride on the line, and they've learned what it takes to win in the MSL. We hope to be one of the top teams in the East." Look for senior right sides Tyler Cochrane and Paul Sawicki to contribute as well.

West Suburban Gold

Leyden: The Eagles experienced returnees should form a strong corps that will translate into another outstanding season. George Boykov, a junior, is back on the outside, Mitko Houvev (senior) will compete at the middle hitter position and another senior, Julian Moreno, returns as a right side hitter. "We've got a strong offense," said Leyden coach Dave Sebald, "but we are trying to find some consistent passing. We hope to clean this up and come together as a team - we feel that we'll be in the hunt this year in our conference and are looking for big things this season."

Central Suburban North

Maine West: The Warriors bring back a senior nucleus that includes stalwarts such as Greg Kusch, Ron Gajewski and Brian Duckmann. "When you add junior Pat Livingston (to the mix)," said West coach Randy Tiller, "you've got a tall group that knows how to play well at the varsity level." Senior Jim Walsh will return after missing much of last year due to injury, and Tiller will count on another senior, Tim Engers, for his passing ability. "I expect Kusch and Gajewski to be the team leaders this season," said Tiller, "on and off the court. With a strong senior nucleus and varsity experience, good height and athleticism, we should play exciting volleyball. My challenge is to teach them as much as I can."

East Suburban Catholic

St. Viator: The Lions will be a young, inexperienced team this year after losing every starter from the 2009 squad to graduation. But all-area basketball and football star Richard McLoughlin will come out to the team this year to compete at the middle position, and juniors David Kingsley (outside hitter), Kevin Pleli (middle) and Jon Mayyou (opposite) should add to an exciting mix. "We have big goals this year," said Viator coach Chris Boylan. "The kids have been working hard from day one and are meshing well as a group." Senior Eric Schulget should be a team leader from the libero position.