Metea Valley junior Bartosz Chmielewski is one of untold thousands of high school athletes who play two sports.
But he’s a little unusual in his choice of sports.
Chmielewski plays soccer and volleyball, which makes him a member of a rare species. And there’s a good reason for that.
“It takes its toll,” Chmielewski said. “One is endurance and one is super anaerobic.”
Chmielewski needs plenty of endurance in soccer. He is a midfielder, a position that can require six or seven miles of running in a game.
But volleyball calls for strength and utilizes a different set of muscles. Fellow outside hitter Chad Luckinbill can attest that Chmielewski brings plenty of power.
“He’s undersized, so some people have doubted him a little bit,” Luckinbill said. “But he gets up there. He hits perfect spots. He just knows what to do with the ball.”
Chmielewski and Luckinbill did a lot with the ball Wednesday night.
While Chmielewski pounded 15 kills, including the clincher, Luckinbill added 11 to lead the Mustangs to a 25-18, 27-29, 25-21 nonconference victory over host Geneva.
It was a tenacious display of perseverance for Metea (14-6), which overcame inconsistency and a great effort from sophomore Jack Mally, who paced Geneva (4-8) with 15 kills.
“He balled out,” Luckinbill said of Chmielewski. “He was just going crazy. He was killing everything, putting in balls where they needed to be, and a big kill at the end.”
Luckinbill, a senior, entered the season as the top returning hitter for the Mustangs, but Chmielewski also is playing at a high level.
“Last year was his first on varsity, so he was a little hit or miss,” Luckinbill said of Chmielewski. “But all year long, he’s been one of the best hitters on our team. He’s been a big part of our success.”
Like the Mustangs in general, Chmielewski has been working to become more consistent.
“For us, it’s always a second-set letdown,” Chmielewski said. “We go to three a lot, but that second set (Wednesday), there was something different about it. Our backs were against the wall 24-20 and then we came back.”
Indeed, the Mustangs fought off four straight game points and twice took the lead, once on a Chmielewski tip, before the Vikings finally won on their sixth attempt.
In Game 3, Metea rallied from a 17-16 deficit as Chmielewski served back-to-back aces to put the Mustangs ahead to stay.
“Bartosz and our outsides are super athletic and they’re very smart,” Metea coach Darren Honda said. “Bartosz is a little younger, and sometimes when he makes mistakes, he will make two or three and then he’ll make a defensive mistake.
“But when he’s on, he’s on. We’ve been working on make that one mistake and shake it off and get the next one. He did a nice job (Wednesday).”
Chmielewski enjoys getting the job done in both of his sports. So how did he come to play soccer and volleyball?
“Since a young age, I’ve always played soccer,” Chmielewski said. “It’s been a passion. I was playing club, but in eight grade, I stopped and I started playing more volleyball.
“I started volleyball when I was in seventh grade, but it was just more middle school program. Then I just wanted to play both sports because one is in the fall and one is in the spring, and it just works out.”
Even if it means working out a lot.
“I have to take a little bit of time to switch from each sport,” Chmielewski said. “But I’m just going to keep going. I don’t feel like changing.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
