Geneva joins mix with improving St. Charles teams
After an exciting end to the 2010 boys volleyball season that saw St. Charles North edge St. Charles East in 3 games to win a regional championship at West Chicago, the two teams have company when the season gets going next week.
Geneva will field a varsity team this spring. Last year the Vikings played a few practice games with other schools.
West Aurora, the only area volleyball team to ever make it to state (2005), is looking to build the momentum in the second year for coach Tolis Koskinaris.
St. Charles North is coming off the best season among local teams in 2010, 20-14 overall with a 4-4 Upstate Eight record. After winning the regional title the North Stars lost to Lake Park in the sectional semifinals.
While the North Stars graduate 10 players from that team, they do have three experienced players returning: senior Kyle Wiley, a libero and now captain in his second year on varsity, and juniors Branden Hoerner and Ryan Staudacher, both who can play outside, right side and middle.
That leaves a host of newcomers who will see plenty of playing time, a group that includes seniors Bennett Gust (middle hitter, captain), Steve Swanson (setter, right side, captain), Sean Donlevy (middle/right side), Jason Stellwagon (outside hitter); juniors Pat Donlevy (outside), Garrett Gust (setter/defensive specialist) and Dan Wheeler (right side/defensive specialist); and sophomores Ryan Dal Degan (defensive specialist/outside) and Jimmy Vainisi (outside/defensive specialist).
“We have strong attackers and blockers,” St. Charles North coach Todd Weimer said. “Our serving is consistent and will force teams to scramble. We are strong at the net and starting to look like a team.”
Weimer wants to see the North Stars, whose JV also went 20-14 last year, improve their movement on the court and be quick to the ball.
“We have a huge turnover,” Weimer said. “It is a rebuilding year, but we’re starting where we left off last season. A very strong group of talented guys.”
Josh Carnell, Tom Sheehan, Billy Russell, Sam Pulcanio, Nick Binetti and Clayton Davis. That’s six St. Charles East volleyball players who all played for Club Fusion out of Marengo.
And that’s six reasons Saints coach Kate McCullagh is optimistic about the upcoming season.
“We had a few more athletes playing club volleyball in the off-season this year so that will help us tremendously,” McCullagh said. “My outlook is very positive; I believe we have great potential. If we can identify and capitalize on our strengths early and work hard to get better everyday we will have a great season.”
In addition to the club players, Imran Hasan is a key returning player from last season’s 17-18 team.
And McCullagh might be most pleased about the number of freshmen entering the program.
“I have had a lot of interest from our freshman class this year,” McCullagh said. “They have been attending open gyms and they seem to be a great group of students and athletes that is very exciting.”
At West Aurora, the Blackhawks are coming off a 13-19 season in Koskinaris’s first season as coach.
Among the highlights for West Aurora was a fifth-place finish at the Springfest tournament, fourth at their own Blackhawk Invite, and wins over Benet, Naperville Central and Lake Forest.
Patrick Ronan, a junior libero who made DVC All-Conference last year, leads the returnees. Junior Eric Roggeman (outside), junior Joseph Frommert (middle), senior Binali Khurshidov (middle) and senior Frank Martinez (defensive specialist) also are back.
Perhaps more importantly, they are all playing year-round volleyball.
“The core of the group is returning intact from last season,’” Koskinaris said. “Chemistry is solid. Serve-receive is reliable and battle-tested.”
Koskinaris plans on working juniors Joseph Schwerdtfeger (setter) and David Vasquez (right side/outside) plus sophomore Spencer Thomas (right side) into the rotation.
“We play in a tough conference and a taxing tournament schedule. The juniors are up to the challenge,” Koskinaris said, citing their “high character, high GPA and athleticism.
“They know what they have to do and it’s going to be really fun coaching them this season.”
At Geneva, the Vikings will field their first varsity team. Girls coach KC Johnsen will serve as the coach this year before likely turning the program over to Kristine Sims who is on maternity leave.
Sims is responsible for getting the program off the ground. The Geneva girls sophomore coach, Sims had been approached by a number of her students at Geneva Middle School about the possibility of starting a team.
Last year Geneva started a team on a trial basis. About 25 boys participated and Geneva played a couple of scrimmage games against other schools.
The move to the Upstate Eight Conference helped Geneva decide to field a varsity and junior varsity. Athletic Director Jim Kafer said while he’s got good numbers of juniors and sophomores, the key to the program’s future is the influx of newcomers the next couple of years.