After a surprisingly lopsided 25-7, 25-10 season-opening loss at Morton on March 19, the Riverside Brookfield volleyball team couldn’t wait to get back on the court.
The resilient Bulldogs cashed in their wish successfully with a fourth-place finish at the Plainfield North Tournament on Saturday. Erasing the bitter taste of defeat it was dealt from the Mustangs, RB rattled off three consecutive wins over Hinsdale South (25-22, 18-25, 15-12), Fenton (25-18, 25-23) and Oswego East (25-7, 27-25) to surge into the tournament semifinals.
“For lack of a better word, we were unprepared against Morton,” said RB first-year varsity coach Dan Bonarigo. “We were just shell shocked. I don’t know if we had first game jitters, but we just never got in a rhythm. I was very pleased with our play though [at Plainfield North].”
In a semifinal match up, host Plainfield North knocked off RB 25-16, 25-17 and Hinsdale South avenged their earlier loss by taking out the Bulldogs 25-21, 25-17 en route to third place.
Senior outside hitter Billy Comrie, who hit for a .273 efficiency, led RB with 28 kills and Evan Munch added 26 on the day. Senior setter Jon Rus totaled 86 assists and senior libero Tony Blatter had 36 digs. Six-foot-2-inch middle hitter Pete Jansen controlled interior play with six solo blocks and seven assist blocks, while Claudio Arba turned in an excellent all-around performance with 24 kills, six aces and a .259 efficiency.
Collectively, RB amassed 107 total kills, 94 assists, 87 digs and 17 service aces for the tournament.
“The first tournament of the year always gives you a good idea of how your team will mesh,” added Bonarigo. “I was pleased with our intensity and hustle.”
Coming off a 24-8 season that ended with a regional semifinal loss to Hinsdale South, the Bulldogs will need to replace several key players like Jon Baldermann, Nick Isdale, Joe Lencioni and Scott Pfieffer who graduated.
Munch, a team captain, will be relied upon for his leadership along with Comrie and Arba, who are a pair of experienced, formidable outside hitters.
In the middle, 6-1 sophomore Juan Gomez joins Jansen as the Bulldogs’ two starting middle hitters. Matt Gehrke should also see plenty of action at middle hitter and right outside hitter.
Rus and junior setter Alex Shaw give Bonarigo a pair of skilled passers in the RB attack.
Jonny Hoadly, Maurice Chojecki and Ryan Bednar provide depth off the bench.
“I’d like us to get more experience with our middles so we’ll push that real hard,” Bonarigo said. “The keys for us will be controlling the ball and controlling the tempo of play.”
The Bulldogs have their sights set on a solid seed when the postseason meeting rolls around later in the year.
“It’s our responsibility to put ourselves in position to argue for a better seeding [at the sectional meeting],” Bonarigo said. “We’re trying to play a tougher schedule, so game in and game out, we play quality teams. Playing tough competition gives us a leg to stand on.”