Glenbard West 'community' celebrates semifinal victory
Glenbard West coach Christine Giunta-Mayer considers her players a family, and their supporters a community, which was out in full force on Friday night.
With a large, loud crowd on hand, the Hilltoppers family was at it best at Hinsdale Central, and a clean, solid display of volleyball carried Glenbard West to a 25-22, 25-16 defeat of St. Francis in the sectional semifinals. With the win second-seeded Glenbard West (32-6) advances to Tuesday's final against top-seeded Naperville Central, which swept Lyons Township in Friday's first semifinal.
Sophomore setter Paulie Bischoff was on top of his game, but so were his teammates, who made his job easy with great passing throughout. He credited the noisy crowd with helping his team knock off a Spartans squad that had beaten the Hilltoppers two out of three times during the season.
"The atmosphere was insane. Everyone was going crazy and we had a huge crowd," Bischoff said. "Every point we cheered like it was our last point. We just had so much energy on the court."
Game 1 was tight throughout, and even though Spartans standout Jeff Jendryk got his share of big hits, the Hilltoppers prevailed 25-22, with Jackson Nagle and Kyle Blane recording kills on the game's final two points. Glenbard West then played mistake-free volleyball in the Game 2 to finish off St. Francis (31-7).
"We passed really well. And when you pass you can play," said Giunta-Mayer, who guided the program to a fourth-place finish at state in 2011. "It allowed us to run our offense. I'm not saying (we were) flawless, but if you're going to go through your run at the end of the season, this is how I want my team playing."
Nagle led a balanced attack with 10 kills for the Hilltoppers, with Kyler Kotsakis adding 7 kills and 3 blocks and Parker Swartz and Blane each finishing with 6 kills. When Kotsakis put down a kill off a set from Bischoff for the match-ending point, the Hilltoppers and their fans had a big celebration on the court.
"Winning that first game was really key for us," the young setter said.
"That's the first time we've had a huge crowd. All our friends are supporting us and the school's great. It really helps us play great."
Friday ended the stellar senior season of Jendryk, who had a match-high 16 kills and will take his game to Loyola University next year to play for the NCAA champion.
"We left it all the court. It just wasn't our day," the St. Francis outside hitter said. "The first game was really tough and then the second game they got a lead on us and they just kept hitting us."
Giunta-Mayer was a big part of the celebration on the court, hugging players and greeting fans and parents.
"The program supports each other from the bottom to the top. Those kids all love volleyball. It's a smaller sport and a small community. But at Glenbard West we're just so lucky."