Aviano junior Addison Krajicek sends a rocket over the net Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, against Sigonella at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy – For those wondering, Aviano girls volleyball coach Michael Gros doesn’t think that Addison Krajicek is too small to play next to the net.
Although it seemed that way during much of the two matches against Sigonella on Saturday, Gros just wanted to give some other players opportunities -- and see how his team fared without its All-Europe dominant hitter.
“I think she’s going to be 6-(foot)-1 any day now,” Gros said with a smile after watching his team defeat the Jaguars 25-11, 18-25, 25-15, 25-18 following a morning sweep of 25-21, 25-18, 28-26.
“When we got in trouble, I just sent her back in,” Gros said. “And there was one time I sent her back in too late.”
Krajicek, who helped lead Aviano to its second straight DODEA-Europe Division II title a year ago, indeed dominated when she wasn’t subbed out when it was her turn to move up front.
She stepped into the front line for the first time Saturday after her team had just taken a 19-18 advantage in the first set of the day. She then proceeded to score three of the next six points on kills as Aviano closed the set out. Her ace finished the second set. And she broke a 26-26 tie with another kill in the third set before Stella Beckwith Wolf won the match with an ace.
Sigonella coach Shawn McCarthy said it’s hard for most teams to match up with Krajicek and Jazmyn Warren, who’s just slightly smaller/less intimidating at the net.
“They’re really tough,” he said.
Sigonella was disadvantaged even more Saturday as its top blocker, senior Rickalia Goss, is recovering from an ankle injury. She returned to the team in the libero spot Saturday but didn’t play at all in the front row.
Still, the Jaguars – a Division III squad that won’t play a single small-school team until the championships in Germany – took some satisfaction in winning a set from the Saints in the afternoon match, especially when they closed out that frame against Aviano’s top lineup.
Sigonella's Rickalia Goss returned to action for the Jaguars on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, after missing several matches due to an injured ankle. She played an unfamiliar libero position against the Aviano Saints. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano's Koda Roush sets the ball Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in the Saints' sweep of Sigonella at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Sigonella's Alysia Dobbins hits the ball toward the net against the Aviano Saints on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Sigonella's Alysia Dobbins manages to get the ball in between Aviano blockers Jazmyn Warren, left, and Addison Krajicek on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Sigonella's Nyeema Fernandez tips the ball towards the net and Aviano's Jazmyn Warren on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Boys
Like Krajicek, Aviano senior Xavier Fox is one of the most dominant players in Europe.
And Saints boys coach Logan Riley took a similar approach in limiting Fox’s touches in the opening match Saturday. In fact, Fox didn’t play at all after the first set in a 25-11, 25-20, 25-23 victory that kicked off the day’s action. He saw much more action – and responded with a match-high 15 kills – in the day’s later match, a 25-20, 25-14, 25-22 Aviano victory.
“I wanted to see how the team would respond if he wasn’t out there,” Riley said.
Unlike Gros, Riley has a unique situation with trying to integrate a trio of players new to the sport who joined the team right before the season began. The Saints didn’t have enough players to field a football team for the first non-COVID season in school history.
“They’re great athletes, so they learn things pretty quickly,” Riley said. “It’s just a matter of getting down some techniques.”
Fox said his new teammates are starting to figure out how important it is to work together and get everyone involved.
“So I think we still do have a lot of room for improvement,” he said.
Aviano has lost only a single match during the season thus far, splitting with Naples. The Saints will join 13 other boys teams in the DODEA-Europe championships in Vicenza from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2. The Aviano girls be competing at the Kaiserslautern Military Community Germany at the same time.
Aviano's Xavier Fox hits the ball through the block of Sigonella's William Thompson on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Sigonella's William Thompson pushes the ball toward the net in the Jaguars' matchup against Aviano on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano's Cristiano Peterson sets the ball as teammate Jules Lasalle-Bryant approaches the net Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, during a match against Sigonella at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano's Alando Brown taps the ball towards the net in the Saints' sweep of Sigonella on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Aviano's Andrew Walker hits the ball past Sigonella's Robert Gibbons on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Sigonella's Jakub Piniewski sets the ball while Aviano's Andrew Walker prepares to block on the other side of the net Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
Sigonella libero Jonathan Faulk bumps the ball against the Aviano Saints on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, at Aviano Air Base, Italy. (Kent Harris/Stars and Stripes)
