Boys volleyball: Geneva earns hard-fought championship at own invite

Future opponents of Geneva beware. The Vikings are peaking at the right time.

Geneva, 2-1 in pool play and 4-1 on the day, defeated Metea Valley 27-25, 25-17 to win the championship of the Geneva Invitational Saturday.

"This group has been through a lot of adversity," said Geneva coach Stephanie Hennig. “I am so proud of them. We had a tough semifinal match against Maine West but we were able to carry that momentum into the championship match. We had great communication and our energy was good. We had great leadership."

Senior Zach Rodenbostal led the Vikings (13-13) with 12 kills and three aces.

"We won this two years (ago) and this one is special," said Rodenbostal. "We have had some rough spots and adversity. We have great chemistry. We feel we are peaking at the right time.“

Sophomore Will Rodenbostal added 10 kills for the champions.

"This is fun," said Will Rodenbostal. “I want to win two more of these."

Henry Sartell collected 9 kills for the Vikings.

Will Rodenbostal's 2 kills gave the Vikings the win in Game 1.

In the decisive Game 2, Geneva got off to a 17-6 lead and never looked back.

Varun Kalidindi led Metea Valley (7-17) with 9 kills and three blocks.

"We didn't play like a team that came into the tournament with a 4-15 record," said coach Brandon Navigato. “We showed up and were ready to play getting off the bus. We have been in our own way this season. We had great leadership. We ran out of gas in the championship match against Geneva.”

In the third-place game, Maine West outlasted Neuqua Valley, 19-25, 25-15, 30-28.

Adrian Klezczewski's kill gave the Warriors (19-7) the decisive third game and the third place trophy.

"We did a great job of bouncing back after a tough loss to Geneva in the semifinals," said Maine West coach Mike O’Brill. “We showed great focus. It has been a long week. We have had eight matches, six of them of gone three (sets). We are exhausted."

Jimmy O’Neal led Neuqua Valley (13-10) with eight kills.

"We are disappointed we lost in the semifinals and didn't get to the finals," said Wildcats coach Erich Mendoza. “We played hard and with great effort."

It took almost two hours in the semifinals for Geneva to defeat Maine West, 23-25, 25-23, 32-30.

A kill by Sartell gave the Vikings the win and a place in the title game.

Zach Rodenbostal led the Vikings with 12 kills.

Metea Valley defeated Neuqua Valley 25-22, 22-25, 25-22 in its semifinal match behind Avanash Parthiban with 10 kills. O’Neal led Neuqua Valley with 12 kills.