Minooka spikers roll past Romeoville
By Mike Cunniff
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mcunniff@morrisdailyherald.com
ROMEOVILLE - Leadoff hitters decide the result of many a baseball game.
Minooka junior leadoff server Ryne Jacobson decided the outcome of the Indians-Romeoville Spartans Southwest Prairie Conference volleyball match Tuesday night.
Jacobson rattled off 4 successive points to kick off the opening game before later coming back and adding another quartet in 25-14 victory. After a sideout in the nightcap gave the ball to Minooka, Jacobson put the Indians up 9-0 with a snowman.
"He has a very good serve," noted Minooka coach Janel Grzetich afterward. "He has a nice combination (utilizing a jump serve with accuracy) and he was able to give us early leads in both games tonight."
Romeoville, now winless in 6 SPC outings, stayed in contention in the first game until Indians senior Jason Durkin etched 4 markers to put Minooka up 14-6 as the fifth server. Jacobson then bulked the advantage to 21-10 with a pair of aces in a 4-point run.
The nightcap lasted only a solitary rotation, with Indian reserves getting playing time down the stretch.
"We got contributions from more of the players," said Grzetich. "This win feels more like a team effort. With our lead, we were able to get everyone more touches. The players did a good job, working on ball control. We have been working on speeding up our offense but it is a work in progress. I thought we did a nice job. We did not have very many errors."
Minooka had a trio of service miscues, but 2 came in the final 3 servers, when the verdict was assured. The Indians offset the trio of errors by being credited with 9 aces. Jacobson accounted for 7 of the 9.
Jacobson sandwiched a pair of aces around a kill out of the left front by junior Matt Phillips to ignite the initial run of the night. The Spartans came back, with sophomore Wayne Fitts picking up a pair of points as Nick Oderio had a kill off Indians blocker Steve Kettman.
Durkin made it 14-6 as Phillips converted a jump set for a kill out of the left front and sophomore middle Kevin Hannon connected on a runner down the center slot.
A sideout kill by Phillips sent Jacobson to the serving stripe, where he had aces around a stuff block by Phillips on Fitts. The first ace kissed the back line. The teams then traded sideouts with Minooka senior Robbie Brannick notching a kill off a block attempt before junior Sam Yi retaliated with a smack that was unreturnable.
A sideout kill by Hannon via a free-ball opportunity closed it out.
Jacobson made the second game academic with a trio of aces in his opening onslaught. Phillips slammed down a kill out of the left front before stuffing a tap by Nick Oderio. Brannick capped the run with kill off a vain blocking attempt. Phillips had an ace when he got to the line. A couple of long hits by the Indians provided Romeoville a couple of points on the serve of Oderio before Brannick ripped a sideout kill out of the right front thanks to a backset.
That resulted in a 7-point burst b senior Cory Harris that included kills in succession by junior lefty Adam Pruim, Hannon (a free-ball tap) and Brannick (a stuff block on a Paul Novosyolov) to go along with an ace. The final point by Harris included a vain diving attempt by Spartans sophomore setter Damitri Taylor on which he was injured.
Orlando Lara had a pair of points (including a Kory Seddon kill tap on an overpass) to make it 24-8 before a long serve turned it over. Fitts collected the lone ace of the evening for the home team before Durkin's sideout kill out of the back row ended it.
Jacobson led the Indians, now 5-1 in the SPC and 6-2 overall, with 16 service points. Harris had 7 and Durkin 5. Phillips was credited with 6 kills. Brannick and Hannon had 4 each and Prium a trio. Matt Lindstrom came up with a handful of digs. Brannick and Phillips had 3 apiece. Harris had 2.
Yi had 4 kills and a stuff block for the Spartans. Fitts ended with 4 service points. Oderio had 3.
Minooka got 13 assists from Jordan Smith and 6 digs by Dave Cobb while claiming the sophomore match 25-20 and 25-16. Brandon Toth floored 8 kills and had 4 blocks. John Savickas provided 4 and 2, respectively. Joe McAsey had 3 aces in 11 points. Eric Maksutoski had a solitary ace in 8 markers. Minooka is 5-1 in the SPC and 5-3 overall.
Romeoville took the freshman "A" outing 28-26 and 25-23. Nick Vertin had 3 aces and Jesse Zavos 2. Libero Cody Mast had 20 digs, Vertin 11 and Alex Wielbik 10. Jon Bartolotta had 5 and Zavos 4. Chad Warren had 8 assists and Bartolotta 4. Rick Bishop had 3 kills and the same number of blocks. Wielbik had 4 kills and Warren 2 as Minooka fell to 3-3 in the conference and 6-4 on the season.
Minooka rallied to claim the "B" outing 21-25, 25-15 and 25-20 to become 5-1 and 9-1. Alex Mitchell had 3 aces and 7 digs for the Indians (5-1 and 9-1). Grant Duncan had 2 aces, 5 kills and 2 digs. Ryan Bauer was credited with 13 assists plus an ace, a kill and a dig. Torres Drain had 2 digs and an ace. Luke Clennon floored 3 kills. Connor Markley had 2 blocks.
