Richards’ Wiktor Kuzmiuk has had the best of both worlds.
In the fall, the 6-foot-1 senior was a defender on the soccer team. But this spring, offense is the name of the game with his move from right-side hitter to the outside in volleyball.
“Playing defense in soccer is like a personal thing,” Kuzmiuk said. “Your goal is that nobody can get past you and you kind of create vendettas against people.
“But in volleyball, it’s constant action and putting a nice ball away. Just banging it, hearing the ball hit the ground and the cheers erupting from the bench is great.”
Kuzmiuk did all of that Wednesday night, totaling 11 kills as the Bulldogs opened the season with a 19-25, 25-20, 25-9 nonconference win over Chicago Christian in Palos Heights.
Diego Fonseca, a senior outside hitter who also played soccer, added five kills and racked up six aces for Richards (1-0). That included five aces during a 12-point run in the third game.
Ian Faber, Joshua Rynberk and Seth Summers contributed five kills apiece for Chicago Christian (2-1).
After the Bulldogs dropped the first game, Kuzmiuk heated up with six kills in the second game. The third game was all Richards, and he had three of the Bulldogs’ six kills.
“He’s a powerful hitter and a good teammate,” Fonseca said of Kuzmiuk.
“Wiktor is a dynamic player,” Richards coach Troy Grevengoed said. “We are trying to get the ball to him as much as we can.”
Grevengoed, who is also the girls volleyball coach at Chicago Christian, pointed out that Kuzmiuk is the only one who played full time last season for Richards.
That said, Grevengoed was happy his team could recover in his home away from home after a sluggish first game. Serving proved to be a big difference.
The Bulldogs ended up with 12 aces. Patrick Gillespie and AJ Pawlecki each had two.
“I just wanted us to be efficient,” Grevengoed said of the serving. “I wasn’t worried about aces. I cared about keeping the ball in play and to learn to play good defense around that.”
Faber, meanwhile, has changed his appearance quite a bit for Chicago Christian. A 6-8 force in the middle, Faber is known for his long blond hair.
During an assembly Wednesday, on the same court he usually puts up a big block, Faber had all of his hair shaved off to help raise $2,000 for the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
“It feels different,” Faber said of the new look. “But I’m getting used to it. For the most part, it doesn’t feel like much of a change.”
Matthew Morales, who’s in his first year as Chicago Christian’s boys coach, was disappointed with the Knights’ performance in the third game.
He’s hoping to solve the team’s issues in serve receive.
“To be honest, it was just a problem,” he said. “We’ve been studying rotations and knowing where to go and knowing where to stand on the court but it didn’t happen.
“We gave up four or five points because we were out of rotation.”
Kuzmiuk and Fonseca will both say goodbye to competitive sports after this season. Fonseca wants to get his license for real estate, while Kuzmiuk is interested in engineering. He has been accepted into Illinois.
They are the leaders for Richards, a team devoid of club players. The Bulldogs have not lowered their expectations, though, and figure they have something to prove.
“Last year, we had a pretty solid hitter, Diego Quiroz, who was the MVP of the conference,” Kuzmiuk said of the South Suburban Red. “Everyone is doubting us because he left and people thought we were a one-man team.
“We’re hoping to prove everyone wrong. We want to get that conference title.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
