Boys volleyball: Conant moves to 10-0 on season with sweep of Fremd
After a five-match sweep to claim its own invite title Saturday afternoon, Conant boys volleyball coach Drewann Reibel knows the challenges will only become greater for her team as it starts MSL West Division play this week.
“We take it match by match and we take it one game at a time,” Reibel said. “I think our goal of course is to win (the division) and go (deep) into the (state tournament), but we have to continue to get better.”
The Cougars continued to do just that in a home sweep of Fremd on Thursday evening, 25-18 and 25-20, to move to 10-0 on the season and 2-0 in the West.
Conant had earned its first victory in divisional play Tuesday with a win at arch-rival Schaumburg.
“After our win Tuesday we realized (that) it was a bit low-energy, so after (our) Wednesday practice we came into this game and we let out as much energy as we could,” Conant senior middle hitter Nicholas Gutka said.
“We were hyped with after every point, after every serve, after every block. It was just amazing and the team's energy was really up today and that's basically what led us to win the (match).”
It was the 6-foot-8, 215-pound Gutka leading the way. His 11 kills led both teams, plus he added a pair of assists and a block.
One of those assists set up a key kill by fellow senior Alex Urbanczyk (8 assists) that ignited the decisive 8-2 surge to capture Game 1.
In Game 2, a pair of Gutka's 6 kills helped stave off a valiant effort by the visiting Vikings (5-3, 1-1) that senior Maciej Kopacz finished with his fifth kill of the evening for match point. He added an ace, an assist and a block to the winning effort for Conant.
Michael Recko (6 kills, 1 assist) also made a key contributions for the home team, which travels to Saturday's 16-team Glenbard East tournament to face the host Rams, Plainfield Central and a St. Francis squad it defeated the previous Saturday to win the Conant title in their pool assignment.
“We are definitely excited to be in that tournament, It's always a tough battle,” Gutka said. “The teams are tough there. St. Francis was a battle and we're looking forward to have another battle again (with them).”
Fremd begins pool play versus Carmel and Providence Catholic on Friday evening in the two-day, 24-team Warren Invite that will take place at the Blue Devils’ Almond Road campus on Gurnee's West Side with the finals scheduled for Saturday afternoon. The Vikings were led by senior Jack Cioni's 10 kills and an assist and by fellow senior Eric Brockmann's 7 kills and a block.
“We get to bounce back (starting) tomorrow,” Vikings coach Tracy Harding said. “We did really well (last weekend) at the Barrington/Vernon Hills tournament (winning 3 of 4) and I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do in the Warren tournament. This group of kids — they play for each other and they work hard everyday, day in and day out, and they never give up on one another and that is definitely something that can be built upon.”