Guerin continues to pile up victories

To say the Guerin Prep volleyball team is showing good form would be an understatement.

The Gators are coming off a clean sweep of their own invite, part of nine wins in a 10-match stretch, and that has head coach Dominic Di Silvio feeling pleased.

“I guess you could say we’re on a roll,” Di Silvio remarked.

Guerin (14-9, 3-3) finished a perfect 4-0 Saturday morning, knocking off the likes of Schurz, Chicago Academy, Willows and Northtown in two games each en route to claiming the Gator Tournament crown.

The Gators began with a 25-19, 25-14 win over Schurz, and continued with a 25-18, 25-11 victory against Chicago Academy. Willows provided the toughest competition for the Gators, but they still came out on top 25-20, 25-14. Guerin clinched the top spot with an easy 26-6, 25-13 win over Northtown.

Di Silvio was able to get other players some action on the court, and everyone had a hand in the championship effort. The attack went well, as Becky Bartnicki recorded 14 kills and Sara Brodner posted 11. Allison Stieber claimed nine kills, with Alex Bojan getting six and Melanie Gorny tallying five. Bojan added four block kills, with Bartnicki contributing two.

Kathleen Sweeney and Jackie Bartnicki had a great day setting, as Sweeney recorded 56 assists via 109 good sets on 110 attempts, while Bartnicki compiled 19 assists and was 48-for-49. Sarah Benavides recorded seven aces, while Sweeney had four in the four matches combined.

The team’s winning stretch began with a big Suburban Christian Conference win against St. Edward on Sept. 19, as the Gators made believers out of themselves with that effort.

“I can’t take anything away from St. Ed’s because they kept pushing and blocking, but we dug balls and served well, too,” Di Silvio said. “We had only four service errors, and we kept them off balance a little bit. They’re a very good team, but we kept digging their tips and were in the right position. We played a very good (match); one of the best we’ve played.”

Following road matches against conference rivals Walther Lutheran on Monday and Immaculate Conception on Wednesday, the Gators host their final two home dates — against Aurora Christian on Oct. 12 and vs. St. Joseph the following day.

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