Neuqua Valley loud and proud in win over Lake Park

Neuqua Valley's Rob Bauer is trying to be more of a vocal leader on the court this year.

On Tuesday the all-star senior outside hitter let his volleyball game do the talking when he smashed 10 kills to lead the Wildcats to a 25-19, 25-10 win in their home opener over Upstate Eight Conference rival Lake Park

"I'm trying to be loud and energetic on the court to help get the team going," Bauer said. "Derek (Menendez) is our only loud kid returning from last year. So we're all trying to do that to keep everyone involved."

"Rob is stepping up into that role this year as part of his senior leadership," said Neuqua Valley coach Erich Mendoza. "Last year we had a group of vocal senior leaders. He's trying to be more vocal, but he's still one of our main guys when we need kills. Tonight he dominated in some parts of the match. You can't teach 6-foot-5 and the agility that he has."

Three of Bauer's kills came in a 5-point sequence that brought the Wildcats (2-0, 1-0) from down 15-13 to up 18-15 and gave them control of Game 1.

"Rob's our go-to guy," Menendez said softly. "He can jump high, he's quick, athletic and he puts the ball right over the opponent's block."

In Game 2 the Wildcats led by 1-3 points early until they went on a 9-point run to make it 20-11 with Alex Onsager serving. The surge was highlighted by two Bauer kills and one by Jon Coraglio.

The other six points came on errors and violations by Lake Park (3-2, 0-1)

"We need to take care of the ball better when it's on our side of the net," said Lake Park coach Brad Baker. "We weren't even making them play the ball. Offensively, Neuqua was good tonight. They were serving to the right people. And Bauer is a great hitter on the outside. But we struggled with the little things."

Coraglio, did a great job as a right-side hitter, where he replaces Grant Hedrick, who had surgery for brain cancer last week and will miss the entire high school season.

Hedrick was present at Tuesday's match, wearing his No. 16 jersey, joining his teammates in the huddle and cheering them on from the bench.

"Grant is such a great asset to the team," Coraglio said. "He puts up such a great block. I'm just trying to do what he does. As a right-side hitter, my job is mostly blocking on the best hitter on the other team. My hitting should develop as the season goes on."

In the victory over Lake Park, Coraglio was a big part of the offense, with 4 kills and a block.

"He gets his kills," Mendoza said. "It lets other teams know that this is something you have to look for, that the set doesn't always go to Bauer."

"Jonny is a very good player," said Menendez, who had 5 kills. "He gets up really high and he knows where to put the ball. And he can block very well."

Kyle Olszewski led Lake Park with 6 kills and Dan Grose added 4. Joe Kosciw and Michael Gallo were the dig leaders with 5 apiece.