Lakes tops Antioch; both hope for net gain

Gathered halfway up the bleachers at one end of Lakes’ gym, members of Antioch’s sophomore boys volleyball team stood during a third-set timeout.

They cheered not necessarily for the varsity Sequoits on the court below but rather for a greater cause.

“Save our sport!” they chanted repeatedly.

On the opposite end, equally spirited Lakes fans held aloft signs: “Save boys volleyball” and “Boys volleyball ... Keep it in play ... We want to help.”

School District 117 needs to slice $1.5 million from its budget, and cutting the boys volleyball programs at Antioch and Lakes are on the chopping block.

Which explains Wednesday night’s highly attended and highly competitive match, which saw Lakes fend off its sister school to capture a 25-12, 27-29, 25-21 victory in North Suburban Conference action.

“It was great support for both teams,” Antioch senior right side Eric Phillips said. “We’re fighting really hard to try to keep this sport going for many years to come.”

The two programs are united. At match’s end, both teams huddled on the court. Some players locked arms. Every player joyously mugged for cameras — fierce rivalry be darned.

“We hate each other,” Antioch coach Jamie Atkinson said, laughing. “But at the end of the day we are one district, and what happens to Lakes will happen to us and vice versa.”

“I think it was one of the parent’s ideas,” Lakes 6-foot-5 sophomore Mason Solbrig said of the spontaneous, massive group photo. “It was a real good thing to finish it off with.”

A school board meeting next Thursday could shed more light on the two programs’ futures.

“Nothing’s a done deal. It’s not set in stone yet,” Lakes athletic director Troy Parola said of the potential elimination of boys volleyball programs. “There are discussions going on.”

“Hopefully it will become something more personal and (school administrators) will see the fact that volleyball is a lifetime sport,” Lakes coach Wayne Schultz said. “USAV (USA Volleyball) has a national championship for (ages) 75 and older. It’s also a sport you can play coed. It’s a great lifetime sport. So to lose boys volleyball would be, in my world, a big loss.”

Chase Binkley and Tyler Potesta led Lakes (7-13, 1-3) with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. Solbrig slammed seven. Eric Metzelaar dished out 34 assists and delivered 3 aces, while libero Sean Donavan posted 25 digs.

Karl Nettgen paced Antioch (3-11, 1-3) with 11 kills and 6 blocks. Patrick Keefe lofted 20 assists for the Sequoits, and libero Ian Keller contributed 15 digs.

Keefe’s block ended the second set, which saw Antioch erase an 18-14 deficit.

“That second game, our coach (Atkinson) really fired us up,” said Phillips, who put down a couple of kills in the latter stages of the second set. “She told us that we have to get going and start doing our jobs and that each one of us needs to dominate our own individual game.”

Antioch couldn’t sustain the momentum heading into the decisive set, as Lakes built a 13-7 lead. The Sequoits didn’t quit, however, which seemed only fitting on this night.

When Phillips’ two-handed push landed untouched deep on Lakes’ side of the net, the score was 20-20.

“Between Lakes and ourselves, we do this often with these ‘make you want to have a heart attack’ games,” Atkinson said. “It was great to have the fans here. It was great for people to know that boys volleyball is something that we care about.”

Potesta’s dink eventually gave Lakes the victory, but both sides know the real battle is saving their programs.

“This has been pretty difficult,” Atkinson said. “I do hope that the administration with the union and everybody can look at this and see how important this is to so many kids.”

For a night, anyway, both programs — and its fans — were heard.

“I think this was the most people I’ve seen here yet,” Solbrig said. “It was nice.”