Elk Grove stays on task at St. Viator
Elk Grove’s boys volleyball team has already proved it can win in the Mid-Suburban League, as evidenced by Tuesday’s division-opening East triumph over a good Rolling Meadows team.
On Wednesday night, the Grenadiers also showed they can take their act on the road and beat a nonconference rival.
The Grens came out firing in Arlington Heights, taking control of the match from the service line as they improved to 5-3 overall with a 25-21, 25-9 victory over host St. Viator.
After 3 aces from St. Viator junior Brian Stewart almost brought the Lions back from a big deficit in Game 1, the Grens stroked 6 aces of their own in the second game to run away with the win.
Elk Grove had stormed to an 8-1 lead in Game 1 before a Viator rally put a scare into the Grens.
“The beginning of the match didn’t go quite as planned,” said Elk Grove junior Jeff Miceli. “We weren’t playing our game. We were a lot sharper in the second game.”
A game-point tip kill by Elk Grove’s Michal Kawa saw the Grens outlast Viator’s comeback in the first set, then Miceli and his jump-serving teammates took control of the match in Game 2.
Miceli’s rocket-like serves (5 aces, inclduing 4 in the second game) led the Grens to a 9-1 lead in the decider, and this time there was no Lions comeback in the cards as 2 aces each from Kawa and and Aaron Kraus helped Elk Grove win going away.
“We’ve made a habit so far of starting slow,” said St. Viator coach Chris Boylan, whose team fell to 0-3. “We had a new lineup tonight with Brennan Harrington, a sophomore, getting the start at setter.
“He hustled and played well, but the problem was we couldn’t get him the ball — we were aced seven times.”
Aaron Kraus and Don Gardner led a superior Elk Grove effort at the net with 5 blocks apiece.
“We lost focus tonight in the first game and let them back into the match,” said Elk Grove coach Dan Windholz, “but the important thing was that we didn’t lose the game.”
“We’ve got a well-rounded team this year,” added Gardner, a senior. “We’re strong in all areas of the game.
“We struggled a little bit early in the season but we hung tough and got past that, and after some hard practices, now we’re on a roll.”