Improving West Aurora hopes to peak in May
West Aurora coach Tolis Koskinaris is happy with his Blackhawks in the 2022 season.
Seniors Quinn Leonard and Gracin Bacarella and juniors Owen Hendricks and Justus Barbel have spearheaded the Black hawks to a 9-9 overall mark and a 2-1 record in the Southwest Prairie Conference.
The Blackhawks finished sixth at their own Blackhawk invite and seventh at the Springfest hosted by Glenbard East.
"We have a competitive mindset," said Koskinaris. "We hope to make a push late in the season towards a regional title."
The West Aurora coach is hoping to get back senior leader Jak Koehler from injury by next week.
Senior Dylan Fiegl is a solid contributor in the rotation.
Koskinaris believe the conference will ready his team for tournament play in late May.
"The conference is very good," said the West Aurora coach. "Oswego, Plainfield North and Plainfield East are very good teams. We hope to finish in the top half."
Harvest Christian:
Harvest Christian first-year coach Nyckalas Harvey is developing a program through practice not games.
Harvest, 0-2 with losses to Larkin and St Edward, will not participate in the postseason.
The Lions' next match is May 5 at Huntley.
Harvest's top players include junior Gideon Schneiderwind, freshman Blake Barkow, junior Josh Oostdyk, sophomore Landen Apostolopolous, junior Aiden Mehmel, junior David DeSouza and sophomore Caleb Callahan.
"This is a huge growing season for our program," said Harvey. "Many athletes that played this season had never played a sport. We have built a great foundation this season. We have a great level of competitiveness in the gym each day. We are practicing five days a week. We are giving kids a chance to play a new sports and it has been a phenomenal amazing first season as a program. We expect great things to come in the future."
Harvey has been pleased with the progress of juniors Jordan Sprecher, Nathan Hoffmeister and Adrian Velez.
"The kids have really bought into the vision and culture that I as their coach have been building," said Harvey "I see kids pushing each other on the court and caring for each other off the court."
Geneva update:
If you enjoy boys volleyball Geneva High School is the place to be Saturday.
The Vikings will host a 8-team tournament beginning at 8 a.m. with pool play. The seventh-place, fifth-place, third-place and championship matches are slated for 12:30 p.m. All teams will play four matches.
The host Vikings, West Chicago, Glenbard South and Chicago Payton are in the blue pool while the white pool consists of Fenton, Harlem, Timothy Christian and Maine West.
Huntley update:
Coach Gerry Marchand and the Red Raiders have endured a tough season in 2022 with a 2-12 record.
Matthew Leith and Jayden Bell have guided the way for Huntley this season.
"We are competing," said Marchand. "Most players are new to the sport. The kids are getting better every day."
St. Edward update:
Despite a losing record, St Edward first-year coach Nicole Skrzypchak likes the progress of her team in 2022.
The Green Wave are 3-5 overall and 2-1 in the Metro Suburban Conference.
"Our young team is finding success with solid serve-receive and more consistent serving," said the Green Wave coach. "We have more aggressive offensive focus while still sticking with the basics. We are working towards limiting errors and developing knowledge of the game."
St. Edward has been spearheaded by the play of senior Kyle Schelonka, junior Morgan Sajtar and sophomore Josh Pottorff.
Sophomores Josh Schelonka and Caleb Groves are improving with every match.
St. Edward will play at the Elgin Invitational Saturday.
"This team seems to be responding well to new coaching," said Skrzypchak. "They are open to new ideas and are willing to make changes in the best interest of the team."