Pioneer Press takes a look at the Notre Dame, Maine East, Maine South, Niles North and Niles West boys volleyball programs at the start of the new season.
Notre Dame
Notre Dame boys volleyball coach Patrick Cole said Daniel Messina probably could have started on many teams last season as a junior.
But Messina was stuck behind several senior front-row players, including Steven Lendy, the East Suburban Conference’s player of the year.
Now a senior, Messina is the lone leftover from last season’s team that finished 22-10 and won the conference at 8-0. The Dons lost in the regional semifinals.
“He spent a lot of time last year on his skill development,” said Cole, the league’s reigning coach of the year. “He’s one of the hardest working kids I’ve had. He’s gone from a player with good instincts to one with fantastic skills. He can hit every shot well.”
While he’s listed as an outside hitter, the 6-2 Messina, who had 32 kills last season, also can play middle hitter and right-side hitter.
“Frankly, I’m not sure where he will play,” Cole said. “He’s going to be an advantage for us in our game planning. We could play him somewhere different every game, but I don’t think I would do that to him.”
Senior setter Angelo Giannoni, junior outside hitter Conor O’Neill and junior outside hitter/middle Tyler Prokuski are three others projected to see playing time, according to Cole. All three played on junior varsity last season. In fact, 10 of this season’s 12 varsity players were members of the Notre Dame JV team that shared the ESCC title last year.
“It’s a new team for varsity, but this isn’t a new team,” Cole said. “Those JV players were very, very good last year. I’m not expecting the learning curve to be great.”
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Maine East
Senior outside hitter Lerin Mathew, the team leader in kills last season, and senior middle hitter Joe Swoboda are two of four players back to the starting lineup.
Mathew finished with 244 kills, 120 digs and 22 aces a year ago. Swoboda had 136 kills, 39 blocks and 15 aces for the Blue Demons, who went 19-14 and 7-3 in the CSL North. Maine East’s season ended in the regional semifinals.
Senior middle Andrew Fox and senior right-side hitter Jose Ortiz also are returning starters.
Maine East coach Jon Kulesza, in his 15th season, said he expects senior setter Gian Bobila and junior outside hitter Patrick Malkowski to make an impact this spring.
Maine South
Consistently one of the top teams in the area, the Hawks seem to be ready for another successful season.
Senior Evan Walsh leads six returning veterans who helped the Hawks go 26-11 and 6-4 in the CSL South last year. Maine South’s 2014 season ended with a loss to state-bound New Trier in the regional final. The outside hitter/middle was first on the team in blocks and hitting percentage.
Other regulars to return include senior outside hitter Gino Debon, senior libero Zac Jaconetti, junior outside hitter Declan Cannon, junior right-side hitter Jake Sidner and junior setter James d’Ambrosio.
Under coach Gary Granell, Maine South has been to the state tournament four times since 2005 and the Hawks won the state title in 2006.
Niles North
While the Vikings welcome back senior Josh Bynum at right-side hitter and senior Thanasi Garbis at middle hitter, they will be breaking in a new starting outside hitter this season.
Among those auditioning for the job are senior Chun-Yi Yen and senior Kevin Kemp, both of whom are new to varsity.
Other newcomers to watch include juniors Zach Ono, Sang-Hyun Ahn, Dan Kim, Sean Lou, KevinRey Ferrer, Eduardo Aleman, Miguel Luna and Brian Cua. Sophomore Joshua Tatsui and freshman Ethan Soo also will be contributors, according to coach Carol Herlocker, who is in her 27th season.
Niles North finished 14-19 and lost in the regional semifinals last season.
Niles West
Senior middle Denis Ovoshchnikov is the only returning starter off last season’s 26-12 club that went 7-3 in the CSL South and captured a regional championship.
Niles West coach Drew Roche, who’s in his sixth season, said he expects senior setter/right-side hitter Josef Narcisa, senior setter Brad Erickson and junior hitter Hubert Gawin to step in and fill the other holes.
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