Mustangs vs. Lakes: A Glimpse into Boys Volleyball Season

Carson Beck, Staff Reporter
May 9, 2017

Miritello serves up team’s success

Junior Steven Miritello, a veteran volleyball player, has been playing the game since seventh grade and is now in his second year playing at the varsity level. According to Miritello, he often relies on his energy to keep himself and his teammates motivated and driven for success during the season.

Q: What inspired you to play volleyball in middle school?

Miritello: In middle school, my team at Carl Sandburg was really good, so that made it fun. As I grew as a volleyball player, I met more and more people, and the thing you’ll notice with volleyball players, especially the guys, is they are some of the coolest people I’ve ever met in my life. They are really cool, really nice, super personable and easy to approach. That’s kind of how you have to be in volleyball because it’s mental.

Q: On the court, what do you do to keep your teammates motivated, whether it’s winning or losing?

Miritello: You have to be extremely communicative; if you’re not, then your team is going to lose. As the setter of the team, I’m touching every second ball on every play. I have to make sure what my hitters are doing, that my passers are giving me a good pass and that they give me what I want and I give them what they want.

Q: As a leader, how do you keep everyone accountable in the classroom and in the community?

Miritello: I don’t do anything special. I remind everyone to drink their water, rest up, don’t do anything crazy. [Head Varsity Volleyball Coach George] Dressen instills in all of us– he is a like a dad– not to get into parties, drugs, alcohol or anything like that. A lot of the players on the volleyball team are good kids and are good in school, not into drugs or alcohol or things like that.

Q: What do you do to keep yourself motivated before and during the game?

Miritello: I don’t do anything really special….It takes me a while to warm up because that’s just how I am as a player. A major thing is focus. I sometimes tend to have a lack of focus at times. I try to keep my focus on the court and make sure I’m not trying to make the hero play.

Q: If someone is struggling or is having an emotional night, what do you do to keep them move forward?

Miritello: This is another important aspect of volleyball; you got to keep your teammates high in morale. What I do is try to make them laugh because volleyball is a very fun sport if you know how to control your emotions. We play better as a team when we are having jokes on the court. We may not be winning all the time, but we’re playing good volleyball if we’re having a good time joking.

Q: What key aspect has the team carried over from last year to this year?

Miritello: The biggest thing is to have fun. We started off really well 5-2, but then we started caring too much this year, which resulted in a losing streak. We got back to the having fun mentality. This year a lot of us got exponentially better, not only physically but mentally.

Q: What are the expectations for the team for the rest of the season?

Miritello: We plan on being a middle-of-the-table team, considering our conference. We play in one of the toughest conferences in the state. I think we will make a run in regionals and maybe win a regional, depending on how we play.

The Mustangs entered Friday’s rematch on April 21 against Lakes High School after having lost to this team the previous weekend on Saturday, April 15, at a Grant High School tournament.

Going into the rematch, the team had a four-game winning streak and had also won five of their last eight matches.

Additionally, the team’s record showed two losses and one win in its conference after defeating Waukegan High School on April 19.

Therefore, the team had 12 losses and 11 wins going into Friday’s game and planned on carrying the winning energy and attitude from the past week into this match.

“After beating Waukegan… we really want to keep up the wins in our conference, in our county and bring the momentum we have into Friday’s match and the rest of the season,” said Varsity Captain Junior Ben Arebelo before the game.

The Mustangs didn’t have a lot of gap time in between games to prepare for the Friday rematch. They only had one day of practice, as the players had three other games (all of which were wins) beforehand.

Prior to Friday’s match-up, the Mustangs reflected on the previous match against Lakes.

“In preparation for the game, we really focused on serving because we did pretty bad in serving in our tournament against Lakes. We also need to know how to close out on the block that will help our backs,” said Senior Jackson Steiner.

Closing out on the block means when the Mustangs are on defense, they want to make sure the front row of defensive players shift together wherever the ball goes so that they can block the ball together.

Some other key preparations the Mustangs worked on included communication and energy.

“[Preparation and focus for the game is] all mental; we have to learn to forget the last play and [prepare] for the next play. We just have to execute and be really loud and communicative on the court,” said Junior Abram Nazario.

The Mustangs had a lead in both sets with spurts of dominance here and there, but they couldn’t hang onto the lead, giving up long runs without scoring against Lakes.

The Mustangs lost the first set 25-19 and the second set 25-18.

“Tonight we were a little flat on the serve receives. When you give points away that the other team didn’t quite earn, it’s hard to come back from [that],” said Head Varsity Coach George Dressen. “We gave up some runs trying to play catch up the whole game.”

Although the Mustangs may not always be winning, they attempt to overcome the obstacles by sticking together. The players and the coach said they need this bond in games like this one as well as when they are playing effectively.

“They are a strong knit group of young men,” said Coach Dressen. “They are like brothers, and as a volleyball program, we try establishing a family aspect.”

Mustangs Fall in Non-Conference Match Up

The boys volleyball team enters the Friday, April 21, rematch against Lakes High School with a lot of momentum. The team approached the game with a four-game winning streak, winning five of the last eight and had lost a close match the previous weekend in a county tournament against Lakes.

Before the game, Varsity Senior Jackson Steiner said, “I expect to win. We need to be energetic on the court, need to play as a team on the court and not as a bunch of individuals. Lakes is definitely beatable.”

The Mustangs ended up losing 25-19 in the first set and then 25-18 in the second set.