McKissick leads Neuqua Valley to Silver
Brian McKissick continues to be "Mr. Consistency" for Neuqua Valley boys volleyball.
On Wednesday the senior middle hitter was the gatekeeper at the net with 11 blocks to help lead the Wildcats to a 25-16, 25-20 win over Downers Grove South to advance to the Silver Division at the Wheaton Warrenville South Tiger Classic.
"I like to read the hitters and predict where they're going to hit," McKissick said. "I know their tendencies because I've played with them and against them so much in club and during the high school season. Blocking is a lot of fun because it can produce a real momentum shift."
"Brian's play in the middle has been one of our strongpoints for two years now," said Neuqua Valley coach Erich Mendoza. "He's so fast along the net both on offense and defense. He's very good at recognizing where the set is going to go. He's explosive the way he's able to move from side to side. And he's quick to reload and go back up. He has the quickness and the know-how."
Both the Wildcats and the Mustangs lost their first match in pool play to No. 1-seeded Sandburg, but Neuqua came out with more energy in the nightcap.
"We had a run of points early in the first set when Austin Neace gave them a few tough serves that they weren't able to return," Mendoza said. "We got the lead and then didn't look back."
In the second game the Wildcats got some separation at 11-7 and then held the lead from there.
The Wildcats (2-2) have shown marked improvement since last week's opening-match loss at Naperville North, when their passing fell apart.
"Since that match we work on serve-receive for 30 minutes at that start of practice," said Neace, who led the Wildcats with 8 kills against the Mustangs.
Neace cited defensive specialist Mike Romano for his outstanding passing and his team-leading 8 digs.
"They kept serving Romano and he was passing well," Neace said. "He got a lot of good hits."
"We know we have great hitters," Mendoza said. "We just have to be able to run our offense and we did that against Downers Grove South."
McKissick, Connor Hounsell and Tim Wagner had 5 kills each for the Wildcats.
Will Tischler led the Mustangs with 5 kills and 1 block. Kyle Harty had 4 kills, a block and 3 digs, while Bregin DeMarco led the team with 6 digs.
"We showed tonight that our passing is getting there," said Downers Grove South coach Kurt Steuer. "Now we have to catch up offensively. We just have to be able to put the ball down. Tonight, Neuqua responded well to the loss to Sandburg and they came out upbeat."
The Mustangs (0-4) will be in the third tier or Bronze Division when bracket play begins on Saturday.
Sandburg will be joined in the Gold Division with Wednesday's pool play winners Brother Rice, Buffalo Grove and host Wheaton Warrenville South, along with the four pool winners from Thursday's matches.