As a freshman, Reavis’ Jozef Walus got so incensed over a play that he punched a wall.
The good news is that he didn’t hurt himself.
“It was a padded wall, so I was lucky,” Walus said.
Walus is now a junior outside hitter with two years of varsity experience. He’s a dangerous attacker who has been working on keeping his emotions in check.
“I was always angry about everything,” Walus said of his freshman season. “But now I know that, if something happens, I’ll just get right back to it.
“Forget about it and go to the next point.”
Two years ago, Reavis coach Mike Jebens liked what he saw in Walus, picking him to make the varsity even though Walus had never played volleyball before.
But with Walus’s talent came a fire that Jebens had mixed feelings about.
“He’s very emotional, and that’s one thing we’ve been working on, for sure,” Jebens said “He’s really grown in terms of his level of maturity.
“Where he is at emotionally from freshman year to now is night and day.”
One big test came Friday in pool play at the Smack Attack hosted by Brother Rice. The Rams lost 25-23, 33-35, 15-13 to St. Xavier. The defending state champion in Kentucky, St. Xavier has won 20 state titles since 2001.
Emotions ran high for everyone during that match, but Walus kept his cool.
“I got a little mad at myself when I could have done something better, but I just kept playing,” he said. “We poured out hearts out in that match.”
Although the Rams (14-8) finished seventh in the silver bracket of the Smack Attack, that loss proved they could make some elite competition sweat.
With Walus leading the way, good times are ahead for the Rams.
“He’s really growing as a player — he’s been our go-to guy,” Jebens said. “He carries the load for us. When our backs are against the wall, he’s the guy who we are looking to step up and get a big kill or a big block for us.”
Word to the wise
Reavis has multiple Polish players, and that can turn into an advantage for the Rams.
“If there is something we don’t want the refs to hear or the other team, I tell them to say it in Polish so the other team doesn’t know what they are saying,” Jebens said. “That’s one cool, little unique thing about our team. At one point on the court, four players are speaking Polish out there.”
“It works really great,” Walus said. “It’s amazing.”
And the players who don’t speak Polish?
“We’ll just walk up and whisper to them,” Walus said. “And we teach them a few words.”
National powers collide
Marist, ranked No. 5 in the nation in the USA Today/American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, lost 25-23, 25-21 to No. 3 Glenbard West in Saturday’s championship match of the 24-team Smack Attack.
And this won’t be last time these national titans face each other, either. Both could be headed for a showdown again Saturday at the Lincoln-Way East’s Invitational.
Glenbard West (19-0) and Marist (19-2) also have a nonconference match scheduled for May 9 in Chicago. Plus, there’s a solid chance they could play again ion the weekend May 31 or June 1 at the state finals.
Ohio State-bound Christian Teresi, who had 12 kills, 10 assists, seven digs and four aces Saturday against the Hilltoppers, relishes the thought of another rematch or three.
“It’s always a fun and interesting game,” Teresi said. “We don’t like to lose to them, though. Our next practices are going to be focused on defense, offense — everything.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
