Senior setter Easton Donausky has a different group of go-to hitters this spring for Sandburg.
More Top Picks Best Gun Cleaning Kits
Last season, Jeramiah Aro, Will Ashum, Aaron Dennie and JT Snider were at his disposal. They accounted for more than 1,000 kills to lead the Eagles to the state quarterfinals.
But after losing those four to graduation, Donausky is getting used to his new hitting crew.
“It’s really different,” Donausky said. “We had to slow everything down and kind of work from the bottom up. But there have still been a lot of high-intensity practices and our skill level has gone up pretty consistently.’”
The setter and his new hitters were clicking Thursday night. Donausky delivered with 33 assists, five kills, three block assists and two solo blocks in a 25-21, 21-25, 25-17 nonconference win over Lemont in Orland Park.
Jake Drew led Sandburg (1-1) with 12 kills, while Caden Jobb followed with 10, Myles Landeros added nine and Dimitar Petrov had five.
Aidan McIntyre paced Lemont (0-2) with six kills and three block assists. Mike Tilly tallied 18 digs and Kevin Collins chalked up 13 assists.
Donausky, meanwhile, is 29 assists away from 2,000 for his career. The four-year varsity player could hit that mark over the weekend in a tournament at Niles West.
“I am pretty excited about it,” Donausky said of hitting the milestone. “I was expecting to get it last year but I fell just short of it. I hope 2,000 comes pretty soon.”
He could also be taking aim at a place on the Illinois High School Association’s Top 20 list for career assists. Evanston’s Andris Lizenbergs holds down the 20th spot with 2,310.
For now, Donausky will be tasked with being the team’s anchoring as the Eagles tries to find their identity.
“Easton is definitely the captain and leader of this team,” Sandburg coach Madisen Babich said. “The players are playing around him and he knows that he is basically our quarterback.
“We’re putting a lot of pressure on him, but he can handle that. He knows what he is doing and we’re giving him permission to make those in-the-moment decisions.”
Babich also lets Donausky in on some of the discussions with the coaching staff.
“We’re treating him as a mature adult almost because he’s been on varsity for four years in this program,” Babich said. “He’s also one of the top setters in the state. We’re lucky to have him.”
More Top Picks Roomba
Jobb, a senior right-side hitter, was one of the players who patiently waited his turn last season on the bench. He’s happy to have a setter with Donausky’s experience.
“He’s definitely a really strong leader,” Jobb said of Donausky. “He can control the tempo and he always hypes us up. You know you can consistently count on him to put up good sets.”
The 6-foot-1 Donausky is ready to close his volleyball career after this season as he plans on heading to Purdue to major in mechanical engineering and hopes to work in the auto industry.
He started playing after his sister, Cami, got him involved in it. She also played at Sandburg.
“She had played countless years before me,” Easton said of Cami. “I quit playing baseball in eighth grade and she recommended volleyball to me. She influenced me to play.”
The Eagles struggled with hitting in Monday night’s season-opening 25-15, 25-20 loss to Brother Rice in Chicago. They got the hitting in order against Lemont but made 22 serving errors.
Donausky believes if the Eagles can clean up both areas, they should be fine.
“I think we will be pretty good,” he said. “We buy into what the coaches have to say.
“We have a pretty scrappy team.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.