THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, MAY 14, 2008
Hawks Get Hot, Eye CSL Title
By DWIGHT ESAU
Journal Sports
Maine South's boys volleyball team has decided that winning its conference is a top priority for the post-season.
And it also has decided that peaking now, after a so-so midseason, is also important.
The Hawks, led by several monster matches by Eric Butch, mounted a mini-winning streak in the Central Suburban League last week with impressive victories over Niles North, Niles West, and Glenbrook South.
South now is 18-11 overall, and most important, 7-1 in the conference.
With regular season-ending wins over Waukegan and Evanston this week, the Hawks will win the conference and have a lot of momentum to carry into the New Trier IHSA sectional that starts next Monday, May 19.
In a 25-15, 25-19 win over Glenbrook South, Butch served 4 aces, slammed 7 kills, and dished out 12 assists.
Matt Butch added 8 kills, and Connor Simmons had 7 kills. In a 25-15, 25-19 victory over Niles West, Eric Butch had another big game - 10 kills, 5 aces, and 8 assists. Finally, in a 25-15, 23-25, 25-17 win over Niles North, Butch had 11 kills, 10 assists, and 2 aces.
Coach Gary Grannell, who led the Hawks to two elite eight state tournament appearances in 2005 and 2006 and a state title in 2006, says a big reason for this late-season surge is triplets - Eric, Matt, and John Butch, all sophomores.
"We have six sophomores on the varsity, and we have four of them starting," he said.
"This is a young team that is jelling and peaking at the right time. We've defeated New Trier and Niles West each twice, and they are seeded higher than us in the sectional. We lost to Maine East in a tournament earlier in the season, but we feel we can beat them."
South hosts its own regional, and plays Chicago Taft in round one next Tuesday, May 20, at 7:30 p.m.
A regional final pitting South against Maine East on May 21 is likely.
Maine West, meanwhile, gave Highland Park all the Giants could handle before bowing, 25-15, 23-25, 25-16, in another Central Suburban-North match last week. Stewart Turner-Jackson had 7 kills, Brendan Joyce dished out 21 assists, the Warriors were perfect in 37 serve attempts, and Siby Mathew contributed a solo block.
Over in the Mid Suburban League, Conant achieved a 20-win season with a 25-20, 25-27, 25-21 victory over Barrington.
Dan Aloisio had 15 kills and 7 digs, Ken Ropiak slammed 9 kills, and Pete Lauterbach, Johnny Pontarelli, and Ryan Schraub had 5 each. Schraub and Drew Fisher dished out 34 assists between them.
Wheeling improved to 11-14 with a come-from-behind 12-25, 27-25, 25-19 win over Rolling Meadows. Chris Schaeffer had 10 kills, and Tom Devitt 7 for the Wildcats. Paul Desmond added 6 kills and 4 blocks. The 'Cats were hot at the service line with 9 aces, with Schaeffer getting 4 and Devitt 2.
Prospect defeated archrival Hersey, 25-12, 26-24 to improve to 22-11 on the season. Scott Pickle led the Knight offense with 10 kills, and Kevin Reed added 8. Buffalo Grove defeated Elk Grove, 25-18, 25-18, despite 6 kills by Gren Jonathan Tompary, 5 by Garret Greaves, and 4 by Nick Mortensen. Elk Grove fell to 18-5, and 5-5 in the MSL-East.
St. Viator traveled to St. Joseph and took a 25-7, 25-12 win from the Chargers behind Kyle Hanley's 6 kills and setter Kyl Deger's 13 assists.
Tonight (Wednesday) at 7 p.m., Buffalo Grove is at Fremd in the MSL championship match.