Persistent Schaumburg blocks Hoffman Estates
Schaumburg coach Jeff O’Brien had nothing but praise for senior DJ Karbowski and junior Dominic Saragaglia following Tuesday night’s Mid-Suburban East boys volleyball match against Hoffman Estates.
“Those two guys,” said O’Brien, “got us some big points from the service line.”
O’Brien was referring to Game 3 in the highly entertaining, back and forth contest where the teammates — both middle blockers — led not one, but two stirring rallies in a come from behind 25-13, 18-25, 25-23 win over the visiting Hawks.
Karbowski had two service aces while Saragaglia added three as the Saxons, who trailed first 10-3 then 19-14 in the deciding game, overcame a tremendous effort from Hoffman.
Libero Patrick Tednes led the Hawks with 21 digs.
“They (Schaumburg) made some crucial plays at the end,” said Hoffman Estates coach Dan Hutton, “but that wasn’t us in the first game. We didn’t have a good warmup, and it carried over into the match.
“We’ve got to come out and create our own atmosphere from the very first point. We can’t wait until we’re down one game to zero.”
Hoffman struggled in the first game, but a lot of that was due to another stellar serving performance, this time from Saxons senior Matt Jarosz. He served up nine straight points to send his team to the early advantage, but the Hawks wouldn’t back down.
Sophomore outside hitter Gregg Lugo (8 kills) led Hoffman to a Game 2 win and an early 7-point Game 3 lead, which caused O’Brien to call a quick timeout.
“We were playing not to lose,” said O’Brien. “We were giving a decent effort, but we weren’t giving 110 percent.”
“They came out quick (in set 3),” said Schaumburg outside hitter Jason Kellermeyer, “they had the momentum, and at that point, everybody — except us — expected them to win.
“We had to minimize our errors and create our own momentum. Hoffman is a scrappy team, and the more errors you make, the more they feed off that.”
Schaumburg (7-11, 2-3) cleaned things up and rallied behind 7 straight service points from Karbowski to tie the game at 10. Hoffman Estates (6-9, 2-3) fought back to take another commanding lead, but a Saragaglia ace gave the Saxons their first Set 3 lead at 21-20.
Then Kellermeyer hit 2 kills sandwiched around a spike from Hoffman’s Jovi Pablo, and the Saxons closed out the match on a Jarosz tip.
Kellermeyer and Billy Tomaszewski led the home team with 7 kills apiece, while Karbowski said the Saxons were focusing on some new team goals as outlined pregame by O’Brien.
“Energy, a positive attitude, respect, focus and playing smart,” said the senior. “That’s what led us to the win.”