Glenbard West leaves with the only trophy it wanted
Although the Glenbard West boys volleyball team achieved its best state finish in 2014, receiving the third-place trophy still left an empty feeling.
"It was brutal on the seniors," senior libero Ryan Condon said. "We felt like we let them down (in the semifinals) and morale was so low. I was so proud of the guys to rally it up and go for the best we could do."
On Saturday the Hilltoppers again ended their season with a victory at the state tournament finals at Hoffman Estates.
They won their first state championship.
And they did it convincingly - 25-15, 25-13 over Vernon Hills.
Glenbard West (40-2) now joins the school's girls volleyball state championship from 1983 in Class AA.
"Last year, just walking out of the gym with the third-place trophy, the only thing on all of our minds was, 'Next year we want to win,'" senior Jackson Nagle said. "There was nothing in our way. Even the seniors - it was their last game and they wanted it for us."
This title was emotional for Glenbard West coach and alumnus Christine Giunta-Mayer. She recalled the day in 2002 when freshmen Danny Glotzbach, Jimmy Kennedy, Patrick Kennelly and Jason Van Tiem approached her about starting a program at the school.
After first playing at churches, in the grass and pavement - and only against each other - the Hilltoppers first faced opponents in 2005. They made their first IHSA state tournament appearance in 2006 with the four founders as seniors.
"It's surreal," Giunta-Mayer said.
"That progression is because of (Giunta-Mayer). She has built this program from nothing," senior Parker Swartz said. "She really cares about everyone here. She wants us all to be involved in the community. She's building people, not just athletes. It shows because on the court we're all brotherhood."
The Hilltoppers brought that passion to the finals. They hit .432 after being near .500 throughout most of the match.
Nagle had 10 kills on 12 attacks, and Swartz had seven on all seven attacks. Other key contributors were Condon, juniors Paulie Bischoff and Kyler Kotsakis and senior Eric Button.
In seven playoff victories they never lost more than 19 points in any game. In Saturday's semifinals they defeated Addison Trail 25-16, 25-16.
"It's kind of like the Michael Jordan video where he says I shouldn't have made it look this easy. By no means was it easy," Giunta-Mayer said. "We had a theme that if you're prepared, you'll have fun. We were just ready and we were having so much fun we didn't even know what we were doing. Sometimes it was just like we were unconscious."
Glenbard West had 12 kills in the first game with only one error. Five-point serving runs from Button and Condon opened 13-6 and 23-11 leads, respectively.
In the second game Button had two 3-point runs for 4-0 and 15-6 leads. After Swartz created match point with a quick kill off serve receive, Kotsakis served an ace to start the celebrating.
Senior Lem Turner and junior Jared Bennett led the Cougars (32-10), a No. 7 sectional seed also in their first state championship match. Vernon Hills beat Glenbard West in the 2011 third-place state match.
Swartz and Turner will be volleyball teammates at Ball State.
"In any kind of upset situation, you need the other team to have some cracks. They need to have some problems," Vernon Hills coach Chris Curry said. "We couldn't find any in that last match. They're really good and they deserved that."
Swartz and Nagle were three-year varsity players. This season Swartz returned healthy from a back injury that sidelined him until the 2014 playoffs. Button was a key addition after an injury resulted in his playing for the 2014 junior varsity.
"It's very hard to let this group go," Giunta-Mayer said. "When you have a state championship it's harder, but this group is very close and they wanted it that way. They designed the atmosphere."
There also was the hype video the 2014 seniors left behind to motivate the Hilltoppers to achieve their ultimate goal.
"It was really inspiring. Just every time we watched it, I could jump through anything," Nagle said. "It really shows how the program just cares for everybody and it's just a family. Even when you graduate, you're still a part and you still help and just support everyone."
Third-place Addison Trail (35-7) ended its first state tournament experience with a victory by beating Sandburg 25-18, 25-23 behind seniors Alex Dickmann, Joey Nasti and Zack Vaca and senior Jack Vrchota and junior Kannon Nelms.
It's the school's first athletic trophy since the 2003 boys gymnastics team was third. The Eagles (36-6) had their 28-match winning streak snapped by Vernon Hills 25-23, 20-25, 25-23 in the semifinals.
"I feel like both us and Sandburg were coming off really hard losses. We just showed that we wanted it more," Dickmann said. "It seemed like they had nothing to play for, and we were loving every moment out there."
A four-year varsity player, Dickmann had 483 kills this season and finished about 20 kills shy of the IHSA's documented record of 1,457 kills by Oak Park-River Forest's Sean O'Malley from 2002-05.
"I'd much, much rather take the trophy home than have the record," Dickmann said.
"Unbelievable. He's put us on our back at times. Over 100 wins in his career," Addison Trail coach Chad Grant said. "He's just one of those guys that makes his teammates better, forces everyone to elevate their game. He really helped take this program to another level. All of our (six) seniors did."