Geneva, Lake Park roll to 2-set victories

While the Geneva boys volleyball team finds itself in uncharted territory of the state series, Lake Park is attempting to continue its long standing history of success.

Both teams are playing their best volleyball of the season as they posted comfortable victories Friday night at the Harlem sectional semifinals in Machesney Park.

Geneva opened the night with a 25-19, 25-13 decision over Rockford Guilford while the Lancers disposed of Rockford Jefferson 25-12, 25-14 in the finale to advance to Tuesday's night sectional championship match.

"We never made it out of a regional before, so this is pretty big for us," said Geneva junior setter David Franz, who dished out 20 assists.

"We're so excited," said Geneva coach Annie Seitelman. "You never know what the draws are going to be, but we're very fortunate, besides the drive, to be out here getting the opportunity to compete in the sectional championship."

"That's what it's all about. Playing your best volleyball when the playoff time comes," said Lake Park coach Tim Murphy.

"This is our seventh regional championship in a row and seventh sweet 16 appearance in a row. We finished fourth in state last year so we're hoping to win one more and get another run down to Hoffman Estates."

Geneva (21-16) has been relying on the heavy hitting of 6-foot-8 senior Nick Busecki, who landed 13 kills in the Vikings' dramatic 3-set regional championship win over St. Charles North, but displayed a versatile offense against Rockford Guilford.

Senior Luke Will paced the team with 7 kills while Busecki finished with 5 kills and 6 digs. Sam Wulfkuhle and Jonathan Bishop contributed 4 kills each in the middle.

"Our back row was on fire with the passing," Franz said. "It's always good when you can the spread the ball around and get everyone involved in the attack."

"Our balance is one of the best parts of our team," Wulfkuhle said. "Lately we've been leaning on Nick and he's been stepping up big, but it was nice to go back to everybody tonight."

With the score tied at 7-7 in the first set, Geneva seized control with a 5-point run on Busecki's serve that included a pair of kills in the middle from Jonathan Bishop.

Guilford (18-5-2) pulled to within 19-16, but Geneva answered with a 3-point run, capped by Will's solid crosscourt kill from the left side.

Libero Ethan Roesch (11 digs) closed out the game by popping up a free ball that Guilford watched hit the sideline.

"We had some good passing and communication today and that leads to good hitting," Will said.

Geneva led 12-10 in the second set, then pulled away with a combination of strong play and unforced errors from Guilford.

Wulfkuhle and Bishop combined for four kills and Busecki landed a thunderous kill for a 20-12 advantage. Another 4-point run led to match point on Guilford's four hit violation.

"I think we started the match a little slow, getting used to the environment, but I think we picked it up in the second set," Seitelman said. "We were a little more in control and playing a little bit cleaner."

Lake Park (18-15) has struggled at times this season with slow starts, but jumped out to early 4-0 and 6-0 leads and was never seriously challenged, despite solid defensive play from Jefferson.

"We been working on staying focused and energetic throughout the entire match," said Lancers senior outside hitter Kyle Murphy, who led the way with 10 kills.

The Lancers ran off six unanswered points for a 17-7 lead in the opening set, highlighted by consecutive kills from Will Moore.

With Austin Patchin (17 assists, 2 kills) directing the offense to perfection, Murphy and Jack Fischer continued the hot hitting down the stretch to seal the victory.

"We like to be an aggressive team. We don't want to sit back and wait for them to come to us, we want to get them with what we're doing," Tim Murphy said.

Jefferson (25-5-1) adjusted to the Lancers' pace in the second set and stayed with striking distance at 16-12, but Lake Park reeled off the final five points with Ryan Szerbinski serving.

"They played fantastic defense and that frustrated us at times," Tim Murphy said. "I told them don't get frustrated. Just reload the offense and do it again."

Lake Park is now one win away from its third state appearance in the last four seasons.

"There are a lot of teams that would like to be in our spot right now, so we have to make the most of the opportunity," Patchin said.

"It should be a good match," said Tim Murphy. "We know that have a big a big outside that they like to get the ball to, so he's certainly going to be a part of our game plan. Other than that we have to worry about what we do on our side."