Boys Volleyball: Inexperienced roster has Marist off to one of best starts in program history

By Randy Whalen
Correspondent

Back in March, Marist began the season by winning its own tournament.

While it was the first time the RedHawks hosted the tourney in three years, because of COVID, it was also the third consecutive time they won it. But with a bevy of fresh faces, this one was the most unexpected.

RedHawks coach Jordan Vidovic said at the time that this team is by far the least experienced he’s coached at Marist. He also commented that this group of players “likes to figure it out and get it together.”

As of mid-April, the RedHawks (15-0 entering this week) have it together. They are off to one of the best starts in program history. When they won the state title three seasons ago, they opened the season with 11 straight wins. Last season they started 13-0.

Recent victories included winning the Warren Tournament championship on April 9 and capturing a road win over a premier opponent three days later. In that match, Marist scored the final five points of the third set to defeat Hinsdale Central 25-20, 23-25, 25-22.

The RedHawks overcame a bad stretch at the end of the match, and a pair of players who weren’t on the varsity last year teamed up to produce the winning point. That was sophomore outside hitter Luke Brannigan, who took a perfect pass from freshman setter Christian Teresi and put down the final kill.

It was a bit of redemption for Brannigan.

“It felt pretty good, but I also had a hitting error just a bit before that,” he said. “But Christian always does a great job of coming back to you, and I wanted to make it up to my team.”

Brannigan bashed eight kills and added eight digs while Teresi totaled 38 assists and added five digs.

With the score knotted at 20-20 in the third set, the Red Devils’ Jakobi Lange, a junior outside hitter who had a match-high 14 kills, put down his final kill for Hinsdale Central. Brannigan then hit a return long and it looked like the hosts (7-3) might complete their rally.

But not so fast.

“Luke didn’t trust himself on that one hit, but he has an ability to correct that,” Vidovic said. “That’s what he did. This shows a gut check for us. We have a lot of new guys but they are new guys together. They are new to this (big match) environment but they are meshing.”

The play of Mike Uldrych (5 kills, 3 blocks) and fellow junior middle blocker Alex Smith (4 kills, 3 blocks) was a key in neutralizing the Red Devils. Marty Canavan added seven kills.

“Neither Alex nor myself are the biggest of guys,” said Uldrych, who is 6-foot-4 (Smith is 6-foot-5). “So we have to be versatile and open up shots for our outsides. I was just happy to be put in the spot and said, ‘let’s roll.’ We know a lot of their guys from club and it feels good to beat them.”

It appeared the RedHawks were in control as they broke out to an 18-12 lead in the third set on an ace from Canavan, who had a trio of kills and two blocks in the third set. But four errors enabled the Red Devils to go on an 8-1 burst to reclaim the lead.

“We have to be more ready for the intensity blasts in these matches,” Vidovic said. “But it shows us some things.”

Senior outside hitter Kellen O’Keefe had five kills and junior libero Brendan Schoeberl added seven digs for the RedHawks.

The RedHawks ended last week by defeating visiting Marian Catholic 25-8, 25-15 in an East Suburban Catholic Conference clash on April 14.

Junior setter Joe O’Connor had 18 assists, and junior outside hitter Dom Heidorn put down five kills and had three blocks. Senior middle blocker Josh Blomberg banged five kills and added a pair of blocks.

“We have a very quality group of guys who enjoy putting in hard work together and that has helped us make progress day by day,” Vidovic said following the Marian Catholic match. “Our team dynamic in practice is great and that is a very meaningful thing. Our younger guys are driven and eager to learn every day. We still have a ways to go as a team and understand that.”

There will be another test this weekend as the RedHawks will be at the Smack Attack Tournament, which concludes on Saturday, April 23 with the gold bracket matches at Brother Rice.