Senior-laden Grafton ready to win

Grafton High School’s volleyball team offers a little of the old and something new this season.

The two players who earned North Shore Conference recognition last season are back as seniors. Outside hitter Abby Proefrock made the NSC first team and setter Lauren Stockhausen earned honorable mention.

They, along with six other seniors and five juniors, are being guided by new coach Chad Tuszkiewicz.

So far, Tuszkiewicz said, the Black Hawks are off to a good start.

“I’ve already had a couple of girls say to myself and my assistant coach (Will Hall) that things are better than they were last year. There’s a nice positive vibe in the gym. We’re just hoping we can hold onto that,” Tuszkiewicz said.

Having eight seniors, he said, makes a big difference, especially as a new coach.

“I’ve got some players who have a real high IQ when it comes to volleyball. It’s definitely a bit easier and less of a challenge when you have a senior-laden team,” he said.

The Black Hawks went 3-7 in the NSC last season and finished in seventh place. They were 3-9 overall and upset by rival Port Washington (1-8 NSC) in the playoffs, three games to two, after taking a 2-0 lead.

Proefrock and senior Lauren Malchow will be clobbering kills as outside hitters. Senior Camille Mirek and junior Kaitlin Mangan will be the middle blockers, and junior Leah Maciejewski will be the right-side hitter.

Hitting from both sides is the Black Hawks’ strength, Tuszkiewicz said.

Tuszkiewicz said he will start with a 6-2 offense with Stockhausen and senior Dani Thompson running the show.

Gabi Haldeman will be libero.

Junior Grace Viesselmann, who is a natural setter, “has already shown a strong presence to be able to play out of the back row,” Tuszkiewicz said.

Like most teams, he said, serve receive is an area ripe for improvement.

While Tuszkiewicz is new to Grafton, he has six years of coaching experience, the last three at Brookfield Academy. He coached the 414 Milwaukee Elite 17-year-old club volleyball team to a third-place finish in a national tournament in June.

Tuszkiewicz said he is an “athlete-centered coach” whose favorite part of the game is implementing customized schemes for an opponent and seeing his players’ exuberance when they succeed in the plan’s execution.

“It’s better to see the girls’ reaction than my reaction,” he said.

Tuszkiewicz has spent 20 years in law enforcement, most recently as a Menomonee Falls police officer. He lives in Menomonee Falls with his wife and two daughters and works as a public safety supervisor at Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center.

The Hawks were to play at nonconference foe Sheboygan Falls on Tuesday. They start NSC play at West Bend West on Thursday, Sept. 2. Their home opener is three matches later against Whitefish Bay on Sept. 14.

Each team member this week was asked to set season and individual goals.

“My goals are to see steady improvement amongst all the players, and I want them to be competitive in every match, win or lose,” Tuszkiewicz said.

“I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people. We have a chance to be in the middle and upper portion of the conference.”