Being a setter is one of the most difficult jobs on a volleyball court. The setter is like the quarterback for the offense, and as such he has to determine who has the hot hand or who has the best matchup and how best to get them the ball. These choices have to be made quickly and decisively.

Joliet Catholic’s Louis Czerkies made the job look easy Wednesday in a 25-16, 25-10 win over crosstown rival Joliet Central.

Czerkies distributed the ball to the multitude of talented Hilltopper hitters nearly equally. Aydan Garcia led JCA (7-2) with eight kills, while Cole Czerkies and Joseph Egizio each had five. Ki Nathaniel added a pair of kills, as did Josh Matl.

“It’s great to get everyone involved,” Louis Czerkies said. “We have so many options that all I really have to do is put the ball in the air near the net and I have all the confidence in the world that one of our guys will be able to put it down.

“We just played these guys [Central] in the Joliet West Tournament over the weekend and it was a lot closer. We were more energized tonight and we had a bit of rest. Having just played them, there were no surprises coming, and we went out and executed. The great thing is that with the hitters we have, I don’t have to make every set perfect. If it’s in the area, they are going to get it.”

Joliet Central (3-5) led the Hilltoppers in both sets in Saturday’s match. The Steelmen’s only lead Thursday was 4-3 in the first set on a block by Logan Wright.

After Wright’s block, JCA tied it on a serving error, then Cole Czerkies followed with a kill that put the Hilltoppers ahead for good. The Steelmen kept it tight and were within 9-8 before Egizio delivered a back-row kill, followed by a kill by Garcia. After a kill by Central’s Matt Stukel made it 11-9, JCA got a kill from Nathaniel, a Central hitting error and an ace by Garcia to move out to a 14-9 lead. The Hilltopper edge grew to 18-11 before Central got back-to-back kills from Wright and Felipe Andres Vega to cut it to 18-13. JCA, though, outscored Central 7-3 the rest of the way, highlighted by back-to-back kills from Louis Czerkies and Garcia.

“We took care of business tonight,” JCA coach Jeffrey Budz said. “We executed nearly perfectly in every aspect of the game. Our offense was strong, our defense was very good, both passing and at the net. Our serve receive was good. We just did everything well tonight. Louis Czerkies made good decisions, and he has a couple of outstanding outside hitters to choose from. We worked on getting them the ball and they came through.

“We had played Joliet Central on Saturday in the Joliet West Tournament, and they are a much-improved program. It came down to our ability to control the ball with our passes and Louis’ ability to set the right person at the right time.”

Joliet Central was led by three kills by Wright, while Anthony Castillo had two and one each by Vega and Jonathan Vasquez. Vazquez and Jesus Orozco each had an ace as well.

“When we played them in the Joliet West Tournament over the weekend, we had the lead in both sets, but couldn’t close them out,” Joliet Central coach Nick Ratajczak said. “We are a very young team. Our libero and our middles are all sophomores.

“It’s going to be a bit of two steps forward and one step back throughout the year, but I like the direction we’re headed. We have a good leader in our setter, Logan Novak, who’s been a varsity player three out of his four years. We play a good schedule and against teams that will let us know what we need to work on. Our guys have bought in and they want to do the work, so I’m excited to see what we can be.”