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The Mokena Messenger 042017
The Mokena Messenger 042017
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50 | April 20, 2017 | The Mokena Messenger SPORTS<br />
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Boys volleyball<br />
Griffins top Celtics in close straight sets<br />
Providence coach<br />
Klaver makes return<br />
to alma mater<br />
Randy Whalen<br />
Freelance Reporter<br />
After not winning a match<br />
in nearly two weeks, both<br />
the Lincoln-Way East and<br />
Providence boys volleyball<br />
teams were looking to get<br />
the winning feeling back.<br />
Plus, Providence coach<br />
Kyle Klaver was making his<br />
first head coaching appearance<br />
in his high school gym.<br />
But in the end, it was East<br />
that broke a two-match losing<br />
streak and extended the<br />
Celtics’ setback streak to<br />
four with a 25-19, 25-20 victory<br />
in a local team tussle<br />
on Thursday, April 13, in<br />
Frankfort.<br />
Ian Piet led the Griffins<br />
(11-4) with 12 kills, a slew<br />
of which came down the<br />
stretch to help clinch the<br />
match. Junior right side hitter<br />
Jack Patterson (10 kills)<br />
paced Providence (5-12).<br />
“We needed a win for a<br />
moral boost,” said Piet, a<br />
junior outside hitter. “We always<br />
look at the other team<br />
like they’re the state champ,<br />
and we like to play good<br />
competition.”<br />
While the Celtics’ record<br />
is down this season, they<br />
have had high-caliber teams<br />
in the past, finishing fourth<br />
in the state in 2008. Klaver<br />
was an outside hitter for the<br />
Griffins and helped them to<br />
a fourth-place finish in 2007,<br />
his senior season.<br />
“It was my first time back<br />
here as a [head] coach, and it<br />
felt great,” Klaver said of his<br />
return to the gym he played<br />
in a decade ago. “There are a<br />
lot of special memories here.<br />
East is a great program, and<br />
that’s why we wanted to<br />
play them. We wanted to get<br />
on their schedule, and when<br />
an opportunity opened, we<br />
jumped at it.”<br />
Klaver is in his third season<br />
as Celtics head coach.<br />
His squad only started two<br />
seniors, and one of them,<br />
setter Tyler Korhorn, is in<br />
his first season as a starter.<br />
“He never set on the varsity<br />
level before this season,”<br />
Klaver said of Korhorn, who<br />
had 19 assists against East.<br />
“He ran a really efficient offense.<br />
Plus, our libero [Alexander<br />
Zawacki, who had 12<br />
digs] is a freshman. We’re<br />
young, and it’s a process, but<br />
we [taking] a step forward.”<br />
After dropping the opener,<br />
Providence had five leads in<br />
Set 2. But they were all by a<br />
point, and the score was tied<br />
at every point through 7-7.<br />
Then, junior middle hitter<br />
Mike Herlihy (8 kills) had<br />
two kills, as East jumped out<br />
to an 11-8 advantage.<br />
Ahead 12-11, Piet had a<br />
kill, and junior middle hitter<br />
Caden Wise put down a<br />
block to help the Griffins to<br />
a 15-11 lead. Trailing 19-15,<br />
senior outside hitter Nick<br />
Noonan knocked a kill in a<br />
3-0 run that closed Providence<br />
within 19-18.<br />
There would be no tie<br />
for the Celtics, however, as<br />
senior outside hitter Jason<br />
Szara smacked a kill and Piet<br />
pounded another for a 21-18<br />
lead. A long serve closed the<br />
Celtics back within 2-points,<br />
but a return into the net gave<br />
the serve back to East. Piet<br />
produced another kill and<br />
then was able to redirect a<br />
ball at the net for another<br />
one and a 24-19 lead.<br />
A net violation let Providence<br />
hang round for another<br />
point, but Piet pinged the<br />
match-winning kill to give<br />
the Griffins their first victory<br />
since the second day of the<br />
Wheaton-Warrenville South<br />
Tiger Classic on April 1.<br />
“We came out of a timeout<br />
[at 19-18], and coach [Fiore]<br />
Providence Catholic High School volleyball player Domenic<br />
Kimak goes up to block a hit by Lincoln-Way East’s Mike<br />
Herlihy April 13 during the Griffins’ win over the Celtics.<br />
Julie McMann/22nd Century Media<br />
said to be aggressive,” Piet<br />
said of his play down the<br />
stretch. “I just took advantage<br />
of the opportunity.<br />
“It’s a fun little rivalry<br />
playing Providence. In my<br />
second year of playing club<br />
ball, when I was 13, I was<br />
coached by coach Klaver, so<br />
that was neat to play them.<br />
We just have to keep working<br />
hard to get better.”<br />
Patterson had two kills and a<br />
block in the early going of the<br />
opener to help Providence to<br />
a 3-2 lead. But Piet produced<br />
a pair of kills, and senior setter<br />
Jake Snyder (17 assists, 2<br />
kills, 3 blocks) served an ace,<br />
as the Griffins gathered four<br />
straight points to take the lead<br />
for good at 6-3.<br />
During that stretch, however,<br />
East junior middle hitter<br />
Luis Zavala twisted his left<br />
ankle. He was taken out and<br />
didn’t return. He likely was<br />
going to sit out East’s match<br />
the next night against Wheaton-Warrensville<br />
South at<br />
Lewis University, but hoped<br />
to be back this week.<br />
Leading 8-7, the Griffins<br />
went on a 9-2 blitz for a 17-9<br />
lead. Sophomore defensive<br />
specialist Danny Pacini<br />
(9 digs) had an ace in that<br />
stretch. The Celtics chipped<br />
away and closed back within<br />
20-17, as sophomore middle<br />
hitter Ike Papes (4 kills)<br />
pounded a kill and Noonan<br />
negotiated a block. But Herlihy<br />
and Snyder each had a<br />
pair of kills, and Providence<br />
committed a net violation on<br />
set point to end the opener.<br />
East coach Kris Fiore,<br />
who coached the Griffins to<br />
the state title in 2014, was<br />
glad to get Providence on the<br />
schedule.<br />
“They’re a competitive<br />
program that is just down<br />
the street,” he said of the<br />
Celtics. “They were playing<br />
some great defense. But<br />
for us, we’re still a work in<br />
progress. We had a new lineup<br />
[against Providence], and<br />
we’re still tweaking to get<br />
the right group.<br />
“We graduated four starters<br />
from last year, and<br />
have had a brutal stretch of<br />
matches. It doesn’t get any<br />
easier. We just have to focus<br />
on playing better defense<br />
and putting down our shots<br />
on offense.”<br />
The day before, April<br />
12, the Celtics traveled to<br />
Loyola and lost 25-19, 25-<br />
22. On Tuesday, April 11,<br />
East hosted only its second<br />
home match of the season.<br />
Despite 30 assists from<br />
Snyder, the Griffins fell to<br />
Brother Rice by scores of<br />
25-23, 12-25, 14-25.