GA_041819

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the glencoe anchor | April 18, 2019 | 31
Boys volleyball
New Trier comes back to take down Loyola in three sets
22nd Century Media FILE PHOTO
1st-and-3
THREE STARS OF THE
WEEK.
1. Emma Weaver
(above). The New
Trier junior girls
soccer player
scored five goals
in three games,
including a hat
trick against St.
Francis and the
game-winner
against Lyons.
2. Kathryn Kinsella.
The Loyola
softball player
had three RBI
against Res and
struck out 13
against DePaul.
3. Greyson
Schneider. The
Loyola junior
took second in
the 110- and
300-meter
hurdles and the
1,600-meter
relay team at the
Bartlett Invite.
Michael Wojtychiw
Sports Editor
There's not much better
than playing your rival in
a playoff-like atmosphere
nearly a month prior to the
beginning of state playoffs.
Throw in the fact the
game's on a Friday night
and you get exactly what
New Trier coach Sue Ellen
Haak and Loyola coach
Lionel Ebeling were hoping
for when they started
doing it a couple years ago.
"This is a great environment,"
Ebeling said. "Sue
and I were talking about
that this is really the only
thing that replicates a sectional
matchup with the
crowd, intensity.
"It's great for us to experience
it. We've got to
learn from it, be calm, so
the first time this doesn't
happen is the playoffs."
But the game isn't fun
for only the coaches.
"This is awesome, so
fun to play in," New Trier's
Peter Brown said. "Huge
crowd, the gym is ecstatic,
it's a real blast."
Brown and his teammates
had plenty to celebrate
after starting their
weekend with a 16-25, 25-
21, 25-19 win over Loyola
Friday, April 12, in Winnetka.
After seeing Loyola take
the first set easily thanks
to 13 Trevian errors, New
Trier (8-2) did something
its become accustomed to
doing: playing three-set
matches. The match with
Loyola (15-4) made it
eight times in the team's
10 matches that New Trier
has played three sets.
And it did it thanks to the
powerful arm of Brown.
The junior had 10 of his
match-high 15 kills in the
third set, giving his setter
a go-to option when things
got close in the deciding
set.
"I really think it was just
the sets were there," Brown
said. "In the third set, we
did a great job of spreading
the ball around, keeping
them on their toes."
After committing several
errors in the first set,
Haak, Brown and the rest
of the New Trier squad
knew something had to
happen to get back on
track.
"We talked about becoming
more diverse in
our hitting," Haak said.
"Everything that happened
in that first set was something
we can control and
fix it, so there was nothing
to be afraid of.
"We're kind of a fighting
team because we've played
three sets almost every
time, so they've got that
instilled in them and that
makes it easy for me as a
coach."
Ebeling gave credit to
New Trier but also was
able to pinpoint what went
wrong for the Ramblers in
the final two sets.
Loyola’s John Hitt (right) battles Emmett Burnside at the net Friday, April 12, in
Winnetka. Carlos Alvarez/22nd Century Media
"I think they (New
Trier) calmed down and
started playing more consistently,"
Ebeling said.
"We started making blocking
errors, which again is
credit to them, but blocking
errors really made the
difference."
Both Loyola and New
Trier have gotten off to hot
starts this season and for
almost identical reasons,
a major one being having
multiple hitting options
available at their disposal.
Last year, the Ramblers
relied heavily on Drake
Johnson, now a freshman
in college, especially when
Jack Howard missed a
good portion of the beginning
of the season with an
injury. This year, however,
a healthy Howard is joined
by Henry Clemons, Liam
Roberts, Gavin Elliott and
Jake Soucheray as hitting
options for setter John Hitt.
"It's fantastic to have,"
the Loyola coach said.
"We've got so many options,
it's hard to scout
against us because you
don't know where the ball
is coming from.
“What's going to key us
though is our defense. Our
defense gets our offense
going, where we've got
those multiple hitters."
New Trier also has a lot
more options this year to
spread the ball around to.
In addition to Brown, outside
hitters Colin Heath
and Jay Saravis, both of
whom saw action on the
varsity squad last year, as
well as middle hitters Emmett
Burnside and Eli Lieberman
and outside hotter
Connor Pochetti all give
the Trevians multiple hitters
to get the ball to.
"It's a wonderful thing
as a coach to know we can
attack all along the net, all
different guys," Haak said.
"It gives our guys great
confidence and allows our
setter to get creative, while
also making us hard to defend."
Pochetti added eight
kills and three aces and
Burnside had five kills and
five blocks for New Trier,
while Clemons had 12
kills to lead the Ramblers,
and Howard added 10 kills
of his own.
Listen Up
“It’s a wonderful thing as a coach to know we
can attack all along the net, all different guys.”
Sue Ellen Haak — New Trier boys volleyball coach on
having multiple hitting options.
tunE in
What to watch this week
BOYS WATER POLO: A sectional primer goes down in Glenview
as New Trier travels for the GBS invite.
• New Trier participates in the Glenbrook South invite
Thursday and Saturday, April 18 and 20, in Glenview.
Index
28 - This Week In
27 - Athlete of the Week
Fastbreak is compiled by Sports Editor Michael
Wojtychiw, m.wojtychiw@22ndcenturymedia.com.