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player ready...Defense hasn’t necessarily been a strong suit for the Maine East boys volleyball team this season, coach Jon Kulesza said. You wouldn’t know it based off the Blue Demons’ performance in the regional final.
Fourth-seeded Maine East, on the strength of its defense, defeated fifth-seeded Evanston 25-15, 25-21 on Wednesday at Evanston.
“They struggled a little bit there in set number one … (but) the times they didn’t, our defense played awesome,” Kulesza said. “We got some blocks. We got some timely digs. It was good to see our guys play well and not be error-prone.”
For Maine East, which suffered a season-ending 25-13, 25-18 loss to top-seeded Glenbrook North in the New Trier Sectional semifinals on Friday, the defense started with 6-foot-9 Michael Boduch and 6-8 Denis Milchev. The senior middles were a nuisance for Evanston’s hitters.
The two were flanked by capable senior outside blockers Sebastian Mihulet and Abraham Manappallil. They stand 6-2 and 6-1, respectively.
“We really closed the block,” said Boduch, a Niles resident. “Our middles got to the outsides and right sides to close the block and that gave our defense a lot of options where to defend. Our defense has worked hard all season and we were able to pick up the ball really well (Wednesday).”
When Evanston managed to hit around or through the Maine East block, the Blue Demons’ back row was usually in position to clean it up. Senior libero Romil Patel, who finished with five digs, and junior libero Ali Chaus, who had six digs, were ubiquitous.
“Coach always says to us that if there’s ever a point where there’s no block, just dig them and that’s exactly what we did,” said Patel, a Des Plaines resident. “If it was a roll shot, or a tip, or a hard hit, we did our best, we stayed scrappy and we left it all out there (Wednesday).”
Patel’s brightest moment might have come on the penultimate point of the match. After Maine East pulled ahead 23-18 in the second game, Evanston reeled off three consecutive points to pull within two. Kulesza called timeout and had simple instructions for his senior setter Marcus Maramo: Get the ball to Boduch.
In order to do that, Maramo needed assistance. When the Evanston serve came over, Patel made a perfect pass to Maramo on the right side and Maramo set Boduch, who came from the back line and delivered a kill. The Blue Demons won the ensuing point and the match.
“That (point) was a big one there, obviously,” said Kulesza, whose team finished the 24-8.
Brett Christie is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter @Pioneer_Press