In December, Marist’s Billy Bochenczak rolled his left ankle and tore some ligaments.
Surgery was an option he didn’t take, so the junior outside hitter spent four months resting it.
“I got back during the week of tryouts,” Bochenczak said of making his March return. “That was pretty scary because you never know what can happen during that week.
“As of right now, I still feel it a little bit. I’m doing as much as I can to stay healthy. I ice it every night. I like ice a lot. Ice is my friend.”
The 6-foot-3 Bochenczak’s hitting Monday night iced an archrival. He had six kills and two blocks to help the host RedHawks roll to a 25-18, 25-14 nonconference win over Brother Rice in Chicago.
Ball State recruit Briggs Corona chipped in with eight kills and five digs for Marist (27-7), while Michael Forbes added seven kills and three blocks. Jason Mayoski managed three aces and eight digs. Drew Fiedler chalked up 25 assists and six digs.
Colin Nye notched four kills in the first game for Brother Rice (24-11). Quinn Nolan added three.
Before the match, Marist hosted a ring ceremony to celebrate its second straight state championship. Many of the alumni came back for the event.
Bochenczak received a ring as he was called up last season during the playoffs. Although he only got on the court for a few varsity plays, he was proud to be honored.
“I was there in practice every day,” he said. “I helped the team as much as I could.”
Monday’s first game saw the Crusaders make a seemingly impossible play digging the ball out of the net, but Bochenczak closed the rally with a monster kill. He added another kill on the next play to give the RedHawks a 20-15 lead.
“He’s been doing really well the past two weeks,” Marist coach Jordan Vidovic said of Bochenczak. “He’s owning his presence on the court more and he’s putting in a lot of work to increase that.
“He’s working a lot with the setters and the blockers and he’s starting to break out.”
Corona also has noticed the improvement.
“Billy’s one of the hardest workers in the gym,” Corona said. “He has been going through injuries and is still working hard.”
Last season, Marist was a state and national power, but the RedHawks graduated a ton of talent. This year’s team is strong but is still prone to making youthful mistakes and having an off night.
On May 7, the RedHawks dropped a 17-25, 25-22, 25-23 East Suburban Catholic Conference match at home against Niles Notre Dame that stung.
It snapped a 73-match conference winning streak. The last time they had lost was a 25-18, 19-25, 26-24 setback in May 2016.
“That started the most intense week of practice we ever had,” Corona said. “We kind of felt guilty having the streak broken. We needed to step up after that.”
“It was like fuel for the rest of the season,” Bochenczak said.
Since then, Marist has recorded wins over Joliet Catholic, St. Rita and Brother Rice but also dropped a 27-24, 25-23 decision to Glenbard West in the third meeting of the season between the two teams who played in last season’s state championship match.
Bochenczak, meanwhile, is having fun this season. But when he was younger, volleyball didn’t seem to be in the cards for him.
“I was mostly a basketball guy and I hated volleyball,” he said. “But in eighth grade, I started loving it. I don’t know why, but I started loving it and I loved it even more freshman year.
“It’s my thing now.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
