Boys volleyball: Lake Zurich opens with win over Carmel

Hey, Bartosz Wielgos, you any taller than last year?

"I think I grew a quarter of an inch," the Lake Zurich senior boys volleyball player said. "Last year, I was 6 feet 4 and this year, 6-5. I've grow a quarter of an inch since club volleyball."

Yes, on paper, Monday night's season opener in Lake Zurich was a battle between 6-foot-7 Mike Scott from Carmel Catholic and Bartosz.

First set, missed serves after missed serves. Wielgos' junior teammate Lukas Pytlak closed the match with eight serves in a row and Lake Zurich won 25-23, 25-17.

"I wasn't surprised by anything," Carmel coach Kevin Nylen said. "Lake Zurich has that dynamite hitter (Wielgos). I guess it was nerves in that first set."

Officially, eight consecutive service errors opened for both sides in set one. There were five ties as well. The last tie was 14-14. A Pytlak kill gave Lake Zurich a 16-15 lead.

"We brought a lot of people back from last year," Pytlak said. "And we added some new pieces."

Set two tied at 14-14 and again at 17-17 on a service ace from Carmel's Abraham Ptasienski. And then Pytlak went in to serve for the Bears. The rally started with a Wielgos block. Middle blocker Evan Bajerski also put one down.

"I think we have a lot of potential this year," said Wielgos, who had 9 kills. "We have a good environment here. We even like to practice."

Wielgos notched a drop shot to expand the lead.

"After all those missed serves in the first set," Pytlak said, "I concentrated on getting my serves deeper and getting them out of system."

Bajerski put another one down and the second set was over.

Scott led the Corsairs with 8 kills. New setter Sean Seidl had 14 assists and 6 digs for Carmel.