Willowbrook beats Metea in 3 games

If the Willowbrook boys volleyball team can get its entire starting lineup on the floor, the Warriors are going to be dangerous.

And they haven't done badly without the missing pieces.

With three regulars out on Thursday, the Warriors (12-7) came back from a first-game loss and defeated host Metea Valley 20-25, 25-16, 25-18.

"We were down three starters and the guys were a little unsure of positioning in the first set," said Willowbrook coach Ryan Bazon. "It took us awhile to get used to each other. But several guys who were out of position stepped in and helped us take advantage of our strengths."

According to Bazon, the team, three players who were in the lineup against Metea were out for the first 12 matches of the season.

Among the Warriors' strengths are go-to outside hitter Ryan Wakely, who led the offense with 9 kills and middle hitter Ian Walsh and setter Tommy King, who dominated at the net with 6 blocks and 3 blocks, respectively.

Walsh also had 5 kills and King distributed 21 assists.

"Walsh was great tonight," Bazon said. "When we walk into every match we have an advantage with his length and athleticism. He just needs a little more of a killer instinct. But he's getting there. He used to tip the ball a lot. Now he's getting up and hitting the ball where he wants to, keeping it away from the other team's block."

"Tonight was all about our energy," Walsh said. "We got down in that first game and we bounced right back up. Once we started Game 2 we got more excited and picked up the play."

For Metea Valley (7-15), losing a match in three games is a familiar story.

The Mustangs came out strong in Game 1, taking advantage of a series of Willowbrook miscues to take an 8-3 lead.

The Warriors tied it up several times and even took the lead briefly.

But with the score tied at 19 apiece, Metea went on a 6-1 run to seal the win.

The hosts didn't threaten too much in Game 2 and in the third game the Mustangs were down 22-12 when they went on a 5-point surge at the end to make it respectable.

"We've been in a lot of Game 3s and we haven't been able to close them," said Metea Valley coach John Aister. "In Game 1 we served aggressively and kept them out of system. Then they started passing better and our aggressiveness kind of fell away. We missed serves and made a lot of hitting errors. And they had a big block up. We just have to play with more consistency and stop giving games away."

Tom Wieland had a match-high 14 kills for the Mustangs and added 9 digs. Noah Marzuki was the dig leader with 16 and Jordan Hawk had 19 assists.