Hinsdale Central runs past Waubonsie Valley in third game
On Wednesday the Hinsdale Central boys volleyball team took its first step to the successful season the players and coaches expect.
After playing two even games with visiting Waubonsie Valley, the Red Devils, who lost their first two matches of the season, exploded for 14 straight points to chalk up their first victory 25-23, 23-25, 25-11.
"After the first two sets were so close, I was expecting another close one in the third," said Red Devils coach Mike Konrad. "But our aggressive serving took them out of their game, and they made a lot of errors, or sent over free balls or balls that were easier for us to dig.
After playing those first two matches with several key players missing, the Red Devils finally fielded almost the entire lineup Konrad expects to take the team deep into the playoffs this year.
Two of the players missing in those first two losses were middle hitter Kurt McConnell, who led the team with 11 kills, and setter Kian Peterson, who ran the offense and came up with 5 kills of his own.
Jake Zeeb had 10 kills and Jake Regnery had 13 digs.
In that third game the Red Devils got a sideout to tie the score at 2-2.
McConnell served for the first four points, but then he was replaced by defensive specialist Nate Price, who kept serving, and serving and serving until the Red Devils led 15-2.
"When Kurt was serving, I noticed that Waubonsie was sending the ball to his defensive spot," Konrad said. "And Kurt is a middle front row player and not used to playing back there. So we subbed in Price, who's a great defensive player, and he went on a 9-point service run."
"After a few points we really got disciplined confident," McConnell said. "We were really strong on offense, especially our blocking and we were able to put the game away."
The Warriors (5-9) recovered enough to get their offense going after the big Red Devils run, but they had just dug too deep a hole to make a comeback.
"In the coming weeks with a few more matches under our belts," Konrad said. "We'll see a lot more of what we saw in that third game tonight. I like how our middles got involved. If we pass and serve and get the middles into it, we'll be all right. McConnell has a motor that never stops. He's closing blocks, he's jumping and landing kills. He's nonstop."
Sophomore hitters Matt Canty and Levi Jordan led the Warriors with 7 kills each.
"We played well in the first two games," said Waubonsie Valley coach Al Lagger. "Our setters distributed the ball and got it where it was supposed to go. But in the third game our youth was showing. During that long run by Hinsdale Central we had four sophomores and a freshman on the floor. We're inconsistent. Our passing was off in the third set. And we made far too many errors throughout the match. We'll get a lot better as the young guys get more experience."