Bonamarte’s block party lifts Libertyville
If this was basketball, he would be rewarded with a double-double.
After two sets of volleyball at Libertyville on Monday night, neighbors Libertyville and Mundelein couldn’t have been any closer. The two teams split the first two sets by the identical score of 25-22.
And then Libertyville senior middle hitter Bryan Bonamarte (10 kills, 13 blocks) and his teammates put on a blocking clinic. That helped the Wildcats (3-3, 1-1) pull away from the Mustangs 25-22, 22-25, 25-12.
“We practice blocking a lot,’’ Bonamarte said. “And we’ve become more friendly off the court, and not just on the court. That makes it better.”
Libertyville coach Steve Rochon knows he doesn’t have to light a fire under Bonamarte to get him going.
“It’s not a problem getting Bryan fired up,’’ Rochon said.
Libertyville looked like it would pull out this win in two sets. On a Bonamarte kill, the Wildcats held a 23-22 advantage in set two. However on a Jaime Jahen kill, the Mustangs (5-4, 0-2), forced a third set. This set was still competitive until Libertyville setter Teddy Kopacz went into serve. On blocks from Brandon Leatherwood and Bonamarte and kills from Eric Handrich, the Cats opened up a 20-10 advantage.
“We’ve been seeing brief glimpses of what our potential is,’’ Rochon said. “Our biggest issue has been inconsistency. I was pretty happy with our resilience tonight.”
Mundelein never led in set one but stayed within a few points most of the way.
“We started blocking well in the second set,’’ said Mundelein coach George Dressen. “We were in this match until the third set. Libertyville took over at the net and also it was our lack of playing defense in the third set.”
The humorous moment of the match came in the second set with Leatherwood serving for the home team. At a timeout, the volleyball drifted out of the court and down the hall. Leatherwood asked for help in finding the missing volleyball.
Leatherwood helped the Wildcats attack with 10 kills and 8 blocks. Matt Tassler (7 kills, 2 blocks), Rob St. Claire (8 kills, 5 blocks) and Kopacz (31 assists) also chipped in.
Rochon also complimented the work of libero Scott Cooper (23 digs).
“Scott is a senior,’’ Rochon said. “He’s been steady back there.”
Parker Tortorello paced the Mustangs with 8 kills. Also working for the Mundelein cause were Corey Flores (7 kills), Jahen (6 kills, 3 blocks) and setter Joey Timmerman (24 assists, 2 blocks).