Boys volleyball / scouting Northwest
By Bill Esbrook
Daily Herald Correspondent
Scouting boys volleyball
Mid-Suburban West
Barrington — The Broncos return a stong contingent of players who gained a lot of varsity experience last year and will be led by all-conference players Matt Logue, a 6-foot-3 senior outside hitter, and Austin Czarnecki, a junior libero. Barrington won’t lack for height as 6-foor-8 junior middle hitter Tommy Leonard (a junior) returns as do 6-4 senior TJ Shanahan and 6-5 opposite junior Jeff Hochstein. Junior setter Taylor Ganzer also is back for another season. “Our biggest strength is that the guys love the sport,” said coach Rob Ridenour. “They like to compete and be around each other. Last year, we had some stretches where the group played some high level volleyball but struggled to maintain that level. The challenge this year will be to become more consistent, have the ability to side out and have our transition offense operate efficiently.”
Conant — The Cougars will look to senior leadership in 2011 as 6-foot-4 Tom Myzia (middle), 6-2 Brian Stone (setter) and 6-2 setter/middle Davinder Lail lead the way. Nate Mittelbrun (opposite), Surag Shah (outside/opposite), Yusuf Oner (outside) and Zach Lindeman (opposite) round out the stellar senior class. The Cougars won’t be lacking in in height as 6-3 junior Kevin Suffredin and 6-2 junior Andy Dewar man the middle. “We’ve got a lot of guys who can play multiple positions,” said Conant coach Steven Peter. “We’ll be moving them around and trying to fit all the pieces in place.”
Fremd — The Vikings look to continue their success as they came off an MSL West championship campaign and advanced all the way to the Elite Eight before losing to eventual state champion Marist. Fremd had some important losses to graduation but seniors Kolbe Stenioen (defensive specialist) and Dan Szwiec (middle) return, and juniors John Morrison (outside hitter), James Kowalcyk (setter), John Vandercar (middle) and Scott Igielski (defensive specialist/outside) are projected to be impact players. “We’re in a rebuilding year,” said Vikings coach Curt Pinley. “We lost an outstanding group of seniors, so I think our team will be far better at the end of this year than they will be at the beginning of the year. Our senior leadership will help to mold the future of our young program.”
Hoffman Estates — Returning players include seniors Franco Fumagalli (middle blocker), Victor Lugo (outside hitter), Kyle Caldwell (outside hitter/setter) and junior Patrick Tednes (libero), while some up-and-comers are juniors Gabe Alvelo and Dan Tatara and sophomores Jovi Pablo, Sean Habel and Brandon Kwiatkowski. “We have a small squad this year,” said Hawks coach Dan Hutton, “but everyone has a great work ethic and will do whatever it takes to win. We’re optimistic, and are expecting to be competitive in the West and hopefully advance farther in the end of the year tournament.”
Palatine — The Pirates, who boasted a 28-10 overall record and shared the West title with Fremd last year, has possibly the league’s top setter in senior Justin Ginter. Also contributing to the Pirates cause in 2011 will be seniors Mike Kunzweiler, Pat Moran, and Mike Palka; juniors Kevin O’Shea, Eric Gabbard, John Scovic, Scott Shiro and Tommy Laabs; and sophomores Brian Keough and Danny Marijevic. “Our outlook for the season will be the same as usual — we may struggle early with some fundamentals,” said Palatine coach Frank Stark, “but we’ll come on strong at the end of the year.”
Schaumburg — The Saxons ould be right at the top of the West at the end of the year as new coach Jeff O’Brien takes the reins. The returnees are seniors Sean Duminie, Blake Nelson and Pat O’Connell, while new varsity players include seniors Rejhan Vunic and Kevin Bruns, and juniors Joey Cha, Matt Jarosz, DJ Karbowski, Jason Kellermeyer, Kyle Marks, Adam Poniatowski and Andrew Stetter. “With it being my first season,” said O’Brien, “I’ve been very pleased with how well my players have been responding to the changes that have been implemented. There is still a lot of room to progress, but I’m looking forward to what the season has in store for us.”
Mid-Suburban East
Buffalo Grove — The Bison head into this season as defending MSL champs and has won three straight sectional tournaments. The perennial state-championship contending Bison have a strong core of returnees with seniors Chris Shanahan (right side/outside) and Lukas Karch (setter), both all conference players, leading the way. Six-foot-7 Sam Wacker is back to man the middle and Jaime Schnittker will be on the outside, and the Bison will also count on Joe Ward (outside hitter), Cameron Castle (libero), Michael Starzec (middle) and Matt Bloom (setter). “We are a very well-rounded team,” said BG coach Matt Aiello. “We’ve got a lot of height across and a very creative setter. We’re bigger, faster, more experienced and more athletic than last year. There’s a lot of work ahead of us and we’ll be a major target as usual but this could prove to be the best BG team yet.”
Elk Grove — The Grenadiers have four starters back from 2010 — junior Aaran Kraus (6-foot-6 junior right side), Don Gardner (senior middle hitter), Dan Roberts (senior middle hitter) and Jeff Miceli (junior setter). John Lorenz will be the main hitting threat while Cristian Vegas, a transfer from Streamwood, while handle the libero duties. “We’ll be more balanced and competitive this year,” said Elk Grove coach Dan Windholz. “We’re looking to improve on last year’s 5-5 conference finish.”
Hersey — The Huskies look for a promising 2011 as they’ll have five players returning who were starters last season. Seniors Matt Hellstrom (libero), Brian Jamnik (opposite/setter), Nick Wienold (middle blocker/opposite) and Jacob Portgual (middle blocker/opposite) will be back along with Matt Cayton (the starting setter the last two years), outside hitter Dave Mullen-Muhr, and outside hitter Kevin Schroeder. “We have some experienced players,” said Huskies coach Jodi Blazek, “who are stepping in to fill some open positions. We have an excellent setter, and a variety of strong hitters for him to distribute the ball to. Our defense is solid and we have the kind of height in the front row that we haven’t had in a while.”
Prospect — The Knights will be a young team without a lot of varsity experience. Outside hitter Dan Hoffman and middle hitter Andrew Busse, both seniors, are back. The new Knights will be seniors Casey Gallagher, Jimmy Muzzillo, Kevin Mazurek and Ray Urban and juniors Richard Lenke, JD Fischer, Kevin Somogyi, Pat McIlwee and Kevin Atwood. “We are trying to gel as a team — together, instead of individuals,” said Prospect coach Mike Riedy. “Our outlook is positive, but it might take us some of the season to come into our own.”
Rolling Meadows — The Mustangs will bring back some senior starters, including Steve Kay (outside hitter), Kevin Yu (setter), and Scott Shewmon (6-foot-6 middle hitter). Mustangs coach Tim Piatek will really miss grad Brian Bourn, a three-year star setter, but will also have some stellar sophomores this year with outside hitter Brian Murphy and libero Peter Nickle coming in. “It’s tough to say how quickly we’ll come together this season,” said Piatek. “We’ve got some experience with the seniors, and I’m looking for Steve Kay to step up and be a leader on and off the court. Our sophomores are athletic and show a lot of promise.”
Wheeling — The Wildcats may have all the pieces in place for a succesful season. Dan Speidel (senior setter), Scott Lunardini (senior outside hitter) and Kevin Leska (junior middle) lead a strong group that has high expectations. “This group of young men are extremely hungry for success and have a great work ethic,”, said Wildcats coach Jason Kopkowski. “We’re excited to get the season underway and showcase our talents.” Other members of the senior class expected to contribute will be Nate Lichtenberger (libero) and Dayne Kang (defensive specialist).
West Suburban Gold
Leyden — “We’ve got two very experienced outsides this year in George Boykov and Matt Kowalczuk,” said Eagles coach Dave Sebald of a team that reached the 20-win plateau in 2010 and finished third in conference play. “I hope that this year will be as good — but we’ve got a long way to go.” Angel Bolivar, a junior libero, is back to man the defensive effort for Leyden, while Sebald says “after that we will be a very young team and gaining experience as we go.”
East Suburban Catholic Conference
Saint Viator — At the forefront this year for the Lions will be seniors David Kingsley (outside hitter), John Mayyou (outside hitter), Patrick Ryan (setter) and Eric Ryan (opposite) and junior defensive specialist Brian Stewart. Viator hopes to build on a season that saw them win a regional match over Lakes in 2010 before faling to powerful Mundelein. “We’ve got more experience this year,” said Viator coach Chris Boylan, “so we’re looking to be more successful.”
Central Suburban North
Maine West — “We are blessed this year with four capable, retuning varsity players,” said Warriors coach Randy Tiller. Those competitors mentioned by Tiller are outside hitter Robert Perez, setter Ryan Stermer, middle blocker Pat Livingston and outside hitter Benji Jose. “This team has respectable height and quickness,” added Tiller. “We should be able to score against most opponents — our guys serve well and they’re working hard to improve their passing game.” Other contributors this year will be new players Marino Philis, Doug Lee, Mike Bortnowski, Andrew Lee, Jake Lindley, Dan Gajewski, Dylan Wiest and Scott Wolf.