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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.

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