Gatziolis steps up for Elk Grove
Jake Gatziolis isn’t used to much attention on the volleyball court.
With hitters Michal Kawa and Aaron Krause doing most of the scoring, Gatziolis is usually a defensive specialist. But that all changed in the third game in the sectional semifinals in Elgin Friday.
With Wheaton North focused on Kawa and Krause, Gatziolis readily accepted his role as the go-to guy and helped the Grenadiers to a 25-14, 21-25, 25-16 victory to advance to Tuesday’s 7 p.m. sectional final against Lake Park.
“They just kept setting me the ball and I kept putting it down,” said Gatziolis, who had 3 kills and 2 blocks for points in the final game. “I was open in the middle. I thought I played pretty well today.”
Elk Grove (31-7) continued its record-setting season and moved into the sectional finals for the first time since 1993.
“This is the furthest we have gone in a while,” Elk Grove coach Dan Windholz said. “We are playing well and we hope to continue that.”
Top-seeded Elk Grove appeared to have things well in hand after cruising to an 11-point victory in the first game. With the game tied at 9-9, Elk Grove scored 6 unanswered points on their way to an 11-1 run. Jeff Miceli (29 assists) dishing to Kawa (14 kills) and Kraus (8 kills) had the Grens thinking sweep for the third consecutive match in the playoffs.
“I don’t think we took them for granted,” Windholz said. “I think we just lost some of our focus. We weren’t serving well and that was getting us in trouble.”
Wheaton North (10-25), which was seeded 12th, came back in game two. Trailing 16-15, the Falcons went on a 6-2 run to give themselves some breathing room to keep their upset hopes alive.
In the final game, Elk Grove pulled ahead 9-7. Miceli than began to feed Gatziolis and the Grens were able to score 7 unanswered points to take a commanding 16-7 lead.
“He was swinging confident,” Miceli said. “And when he swings confident there is no stopping him.”
From there the Grens continued to grind out points with Jake Braceros picking up 3 of his 6 kills down the stretch as Elk Grove pulled away.
“We attacked the net well today,” Windholz said. “We need to keep doing that.”
Wheaton North got strong performances from Joey Krzyzewski (8 kills), Alex Jackson (4 kills), Nick DeCraene (2 kills) and Hank Bowen (16 assists).
“We definitely went out there and battled,” Wheaton North coach Ryan Baker said. “We really scrapped in that second game. Coming out of the DVC, you know what it is like to play tough teams. And they are a tough team as well.”