North falters in tournament semifinal
Boys volleyball
by PATRICK J. NAGY Reporter

In the six years Paul O'Connor has been coach of the Williamsville North boys volleyball team, the Spartans have either won or been in the finals of the Williamsville South Tournament. Had North showed any consistency in Saturday's South tourney, the Spartans could have made another finals appearance.

North, winners of the tournament four out of the last six years, lost 18-25, 12-25 to eventual tournament champion, Maryvale, in the semifinals.

North beat Maryvale, 25-22, in round robin play, a game where O'Connor said his team jumped on them right away and were up by as many as eight points.

"It was the first game where everything came together," said O'Connor. "The outside hitters, Matt Antalik and Joe Greenwald, weren't hitting it out of bounds, Miller and Nick Hereth were constants in the middle, and setter Drew Moscato and libero Ben Zwierzchowski played great."

O'Connor said Miller and Moscato blocked one of Maryvale's best players, Joe Guttman, six or seven times straight down for points.

O'Connor said Maryvale was ready for his team in the playoffs.

"They jumped on us early," said O'Connor. "We trailed 7-0 to start the second game. When you're down by so many points, it's hard to come from behind."

North needed to beat Maryvale to get into the playoffs. If the Spartans had beaten Cicero North Syracuse in round robin play, they would have been the top seed and would have probably faced Maryvale in the final, O'Connor said. Instead, they lost to Cicero, 18-25.

"It was the complete opposite of the way we had been playing against Maryvale," said O'Connor. "We had passing errors and were hitting the ball out of bounds. That's been the story of our season. I always tell them, 'I can flip a coin with you because you never know what you're going to get.'"

North finished 5-2 in round robin play, also defeating Williamsville East, 25-18, Williamsville South, 25-19, Bishop Timon St. Jude 25-20 and Section III's Central Square, 25-18. The Spartans also lost to Cheektowaga 18-25.

Moscato and Greenwald were named to the all-tournament team.

"Joe was consistent all day long," said O'Connor. "A lot of times he tries to pound the ball and it either hits the net or goes out of bounds. On Saturday, he started to roll it over the net and score points."

"Drew is the best setter I've had at North," O'Connor added. "This year, he's also my best blocker. Teams think they can smash it over him, but many times he blocks it straight down on them."

O'Connor also said Antalik played well hitting on the outside.

Earlier in the week, North beat Depew, 25-15, 25-21, 23-25, 24-25, 25-15, on Monday and Sweet Home, 25-15, 25-13 on Thursday. They lost to Frontier, 15-25, 20-25, on Friday. O'Connor said Moscato keyed North's defensive blocks against Sweet Home; Moscato and Miller were tough against Frontier.

North plays at Lancaster on Wednesday and Clarence on Friday.

Williamsville South

The Billies finished 3-4 in round robin play at the Williamsville South Tournament, but coach Thom Knab thought his team played well in the games they lost.

The Billies beat Williamsville East, 25-10, Section III's Central Square, 25-15, and Bishop Timon St. Jude, 25-15, and lost to Cheektowaga, 21-25, Williamsville North, 19-25, Section III's Cicero North Syracuse, 18-25 and Maryvale, 18-25.

Knab lauded the play of senior outside hitter Joe Paul, sophomore setter Pat Drexinger and freshman middle hitter and JV call-up Phil Stasiak.

The rest of the regular season has been a roller coaster, according to Knab, which he thinks is leveling out as the season progresses.

"Some of the kids are coming into their own and starting to understand how to hit the ball decently," Knab added.

South is 4-7 overall and 2-5 in ECIC Division II. The Billies have defeated Iroquois and Lake Shore in league matches and Cleveland Hill twice in non-league matches.

Paul, the team's most consistent player according to Knab, leads the team in kills and digs. Stasiak leads in blocks. Knab said senior right side hitter Nate Lennert has played well, as has senior middle hitter Brian D'Angelo.

Knab said his team's success will depend on how well they can pass and gel on the court.

South hosted West Seneca East on Tuesday, but results were unavailable before The Bee went to press. They host Iroquois on Wednesday and travel to West Seneca East on Friday.

e-mail: pnagy@beenews.com