Radomski powers Schaumburg past Hoffman Estates

Schaumburg's Chris Radomski played hide-and-seek with Hoffman Estates Thursday.

Radomski had 10 kills as Schaumburg swept the Hawks 25-16, 25-12 in the Mid-Suburban West boys volleyball opener for both teams in Schaumburg.

"Radomski was big for us from the outside tonight," Schaumburg coach Tim Murphy said. "He is a load for a lot of teams. We are just going to have to understand that teams will have to go wherever he is. We are going to have to move things around."

Hoffman Estates had difficulty finding Radomski most of the night. When Radomski, a 6-foot-5 junior outside hitter, did come out of his hiding places, it was to deliver a heat-seeking missile of an overhead kill shot.

"I still feel like I can better," said Radomski, who started for the Saxons last year as a sophomore.

"I still need to work on my contact on the ball. I am still new with our setter this year. We just need to practice more together."

Carter Luecht is taking over the reins as the setter this year. It is an all-in-the-family situation for Schaumburg (1-1, 1-0) as Carter is moving into a position that his older brother Ryan held for the last three years.

"We are looking forward to six years of Luecht setters," Murphy said. "It is nice to have him stepping in as sophomore. He is doing a very nice job."

Carter Luecht, who had 20 assists in the two games, said that he is trying to get used to playing at the varsity level.

"My brother did a great job and now it is my turn," Carter Luecht said. "It has been a little difficult because the guys were used to my brother and now they have to get used to me. But we will be able to get better each game."

The Saxons were also able to lean on Adrian Maciejewski, who had 4 kills, and Matthew Monko, who had 2 kills. Pavan Kannan also had a block for a point.

Hoffman Estates (0-4, 0-1) got off to a quick start in the first set. Thanks to a pair of aces by Denny Filipov, the Hawks jumped to a 4-0 lead.

But it was all Schaumburg from there. With Radomski racking up 4 kills and an ace, the Saxons went on a 10-1 run and never looked back.

In the second set, kills by Radomski and Monko, along with a block point by Kannan, enabled the Saxons to score the first 5 points. The Saxons led 12-9 when they went on an 8-1 run to put the game away, with Radomski knocking down 4 kills during that span.

"We need to be quicker on recognizing what is going on on the other side," said new Hoffman Estates coach Delaina Heracklis. "The season is still young and I am optimistic on what is to come."

Eric Gonzalez led the Hawks with 4 kills. Filipov had 2 kills while Samad Syed and Colin Grochal each had one.

"We are going to get there," Heracklis said. "Our boys are really resilient and we have a lot of talent on our team."