Middles heat up for Huskies

Updated: May 2, 2011 9:04PM

Defending its West Suburban Silver title doesn’t seem likely, but Oak Park-River Forest hopes to gain a measure of respect this weekend at the Glenbrook North Invitational.

The host Spartans, ranked No. 10 by YourSeason.com, are the favorites, but the Huskies are the top seed in their pool along with Barrington and Stevenson.

Since winning the Hoffman Estates Invitational March 26, OPRF placed eighth in the Wheaton Warrenville South Classic April 2 and seventh at the Downers South Invitational April 23.

Before playing at GBN, the Huskies host Proviso West at 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, and host St. Francis at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 5.

The Huskies (16-9, 2-1 West Suburban Silver) lost to conference leader Downers North 25-23, 27-29, 25-21 on April 19 to fall behind the Trojans (21-3, 4-0). OPRF needs Glenbard West (20-4, 3-0) to win at DGN Tuesday to force a three-way tie for the conference lead.

Brother Rice beat OPRF 19-25, 25-20, 25-20 April 27 in Oak Park. The Huskies have enjoyed win streaks of seven games and five games this season with a rejuvenated attack by its middle hitters: seniors D.J. Valenti and Jimmy Kasang. Kasang missed the Tiger Classic in Wheaton due to spring break, but added five kills against Brother Rice to complement Valenti’s six kills and four blocks.

Valenti is 6-foot-5 and Kasang is 6-3 as some big targets for first-year setter Diego Rodriguez-Guerrios, a move-in from Puerto Rico.

Rodriguez finished with 36 assists against Brother Rice while outside hitters Owen Brady and Ben Wilks had 10 kills each.

“I think Brother Rice was a humbling game for us,” Valenti said. “A lot of things broke down.”

Kasang has been the latest middle hitter to emerge, but the Huskies have plenty of talent at that position. Junior Ethan Thomas has subbed for Valenti and Luke Kahn and George Burgi also seek playing time in the middle.

“We have five middles, and really they all play,” Valenti said. “To have that many contribute, you usually don’t have that many middles.”

Valenti, who is in his second varsity season, was the No. 2 middle last season and came off the bench to begin games. Valenti feels the Huskies will improve late in the season now that the team has gotten used to Rodriguez, who moved to the area in August.

“We’re like a completely new team. It will take some time to adjust,” Valenti said.

One of OPRF’s top players is senior libero Mike Fredrick, who was the only OPRF player to be named all-tournament at Wheaton South.

“Obviously, I think we feel pretty good about how we can play in the tournament this weekend,” Fredrick said. “It’s a great opportunity to play some of the better teams in the area in the second half of the season. It’s a good chance to show that we can play and step up.”

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