This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

Maine South Sports Roundup: Volleyball Adopts New Philosophy in New Season

Cross country runner Emily Leonard paced Maine South with a four-place finish at the Harvey Braus Invitational.

Sebastian Acevedo may be starting his second season as Maine South’s volleyball coach, but he considers this the first real opportunity to put his stamp on a program that has historically struggled in the CSL South.

“Last year it took about half a season to get to know me, get to trust me and learn the new offense and what we’re looking for,” Acevedo said.

Not only did Maine South have to adjust to a new system and longer practices, but to a new coaching philosophy. Acevedo says he wants his players to focus on themselves, using mistakes as an opportunity to make corrections. In being more accepting of mistakes that happen during practice and in matches, Acevedo hopes his team plays looser and becomes more coachable.

Find out what's happening in Niles-Morton Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“I’m very hard to play for because I don’t demand perfection for a whole match, I demand that they give me effort for every point, which I think is much harder than being perfect,” Acevedo said.

So far the results seem to be paying for Maine South. With a number of starters back from last year’s team and after an offseason full with productive workouts, Maine South is off to an 8-3 start this year. The three losses came in the Conant tournament over Labor Day Weekend and all were in very tight matches that didn’t carry a difference of more than four points.

Find out what's happening in Niles-Morton Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Outside hitter Pat Wardynski, who transferred from Maine East, has been stellar for the Hawks. She’s averaged six to nine kills over their last couple matches and has provided some consistency for Maine South over the team’s four-game winning streak.

“I didn’t expect us to be so dynamic on offense so quickly in the season,” Acevedo said. “They’ve done a great job of just technically being sound, hitting and understand what their jobs are and raising their volleyball IQs.”

Maine South has just started conference play, and with it comes the opportunity to improve upon last year’s two conference victories. It will be a tough task against the likes of New Trier, Glenbrook South and Evanston, but Acevedo is confident that marked improvement is on the way.

“We want to make a name for ourselves in the CSL,” Acevedo said. “We have the skill, now if we can keep the focus and work incredibly hard and continuously learn then I think we will be capable of doing that."

Girls Cross Country: Emily Leonard finished in fourth place at the Harvey Braus Invitational, helping lead Maine South to a ninth-place finish as a team with 245 points. Leonard completed the three-mile race in 17:22. Megan Lemersal took eighth, finishing in 17:46.

Girls Tennis: Maine South finished fourth in the eight-team Buffalo Grove Invitational on Sept. 10. Caroline Borowski and Meghan Salgia combined to take second in the No. 2 doubles slot while Randi Wind was the runner-up in No. 3 singles.

SCOREBOARD

Boys Golf:

Sept 8 - Niles West 139, Maine South 150

Sept 12 - New Trier 156, Maine South 170

Girls Golf:

Sept 14 - Maine South 180, Glenbrook North 190

Boys Soccer:

Sept 13 - New Trier 4, Maine South 0

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?