Will Bartelt is one of the top boys volleyball players in the country and has the scholarship offer from the 10th-ranked team in the nation to prove it.
But the UCSD-bound outside hitter is valued for much more than his size, jump serve and ability to bounce the ball from anywhere on the court.
Bartelt’s steady leadership and unselfish approach to the game put him among the best.
Bartelt had a team-high 11 kills and three aces to lead Del Norte past visiting Santa Fe Christian, 25-17, 25-23, 25-22, in the opening round of the CIF San Diego Section Division 1 playoffs on Wednesday.
The No. 5 seed Nighthawks (20-18) will travel south to face fourth-seeded Eastlake (20-13) on Friday. The teams split their two matches in the regular season.
“We’ve mostly been focusing on the controllables and the preventables on our end of the court,” Del Norte coach Rose Lazo said. “We never know what we’re going up against. We can have an idea … so we’re going to prepare our end as much as possible. Our main focus is us and making sure everyone is confident and on the same page.”
Bartelt put away nearly half of his kills from the back row and did it all with the added pressure of playing in front of his future Tritons coaching staff.
“Of course a little bit,” Bartelt said when asked about playing in front of head coach Brad Rostratter and assistant coach Jorge Collazo. “But more exciting. It gave me some fire. I wanted to show them what I’m capable of.”
The Eagles (6-15) came into this season with just six players before adding a seventh. Veteran club coach Joe Picone was pleased with the dedication, commitment and growth of a team that largely rebuilt this year and was filled with guys who had never played the sport.
“I’m very proud of each and every one of these guys,” Picone said. “It’s hard with seven guys if someone gets hurt. But they came in every day and worked hard with high spirits. They didn’t care. They knew they were underdogs in every game they played this season. They competed. I don’t think I’ve coached a grittier team in my entire coaching career.”
Sophomore Sawyer Anderson had a game-high 17 kills for the Eagles. Freshman Finlay Reynolds added four kills and junior Jairus Bolden chipped in with three.
The Nighthawks got contributions from several spots to Bartelt.
Junior outside hitter Luke Shoptaw had six kills and five aces, recording four straight aces early in the second set for an 8-3 lead.
Senior Declan Cockrell and sophomore Henry Clyde each had five kills, and Cockrell added three aces as Del Norte totaled 14 aces as a team in a dominant effort from the service line.
The Nighthawks had their fair share of missed serves, but the aggressiveness was evident from the first serve.
“He’s the kind of player who will not accept anything less than what we as a team deserve,” Lazo said. “One of my main things is leaders lead. He goes on and turns the lights on for everybody. You would think he’d have a huge ego for being the only committed player on our team this season, but he does a very good job of leading and inspiring others.”
The Nighthawks lost a lot of impact players from last year’s senior-laden Open Division team.
Bartelt has handled the extra pressure with the approach of someone who’s ready to play at the next level.
“I’m in a position where, being the captain, I had to take on a huge responsibility for my team,” he said. “I’ve helped guide a lot of our guys. Bring some energy and positivity. everyone. We were going to have a lot of guys with not as much experience who are bound to make more mistakes. Using that, I knew I had to be a leader and role model for them this year.”
