Boys volleyball: West Aurora wins own tournament

Surviving a narrow escape in the first set of its semifinal matchup against Glenbard North, West Aurora's boys volleyball team suddenly shifted into another gear Saturday afternoon.

After cruising to a 25-12 second-set victory over the Panthers (5-1), the Blackhawks (5-1) defeated Joliet West 25-19, 25-19 to capture the championship of their own 12-team invitational tournament in Aurora.

"It is nice to win our own tournament," said Blackhawks coach Tolis Koskinaris. "We went back-to-back (tournament titles) in 2011 and 2012 and we haven't won it since so that makes us feel pretty good.

"It was one of their season goals - to win this tournament."

Senior outside hitter Justin Reynolds paced the Blackhawks with 15 kills and 4 aces against defending tourney champion Joliet West.

"We're coming together pretty well," said Reynolds, who registered 8 kills and a pair of aces in the opening set. "We have the hitting. We're working on the blocking and defense but overall it's coming along."

The 6-foot-6 Reynolds, a Grand Canyon University recruit, and 6-8 Loyola-bound junior outside hitter Thomas Kovanic (8 kills) combined to overpower the Tigers.

West Aurora jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first set, capitalizing on back-to-back blocks from seniors Chase Kilmer and Adam Fitzgerald and a pair of aces by Reynolds.

With the Blackhawks ahead 21-15, Reynolds recorded 3 kills and teammate Tommy Garcia added another.

In the second set, West Aurora fell behind 8-4 before pulling even at 10-10 on a Joliet West hitting error.

After the Tigers grabbed a 13-12 advantage on a kill from middle hitter Clayton Pelzer, the Blackhawks tied it on a powerful kill from Kovanic before moving ahead 14-13 as Reynolds put away a cross-court set from Garcia.

"We can hit the ball," said Koskinaris. "Even our middles - when they get a hold of the ball, they can hit it."

Reynolds closed out the match with another booming kill as the Blackhawks overcame 9 service errors and the play of Joliet West's Luke VanEck (8 kills) and setter Ryler Van Rossum O'Connell.

"Those two guys were both on their team last year that won this tournament," said Koskinaris. "Those two guys are both winners, especially that setter. We've been following him since he was 16. He's a very good player.

"We played pretty well today," added the coach. "I don't mean to give you the company line but there are still some things we need to work on."

Against Glenbard North in the semifinals, the Blackhawks led 24-20 before the Panthers tied it with 4 straight points, highlighted by back-to-back block kills from Justin Chloeun and an ace by MiG Torres.

Kovanic's kill put West Aurora up 25-24 before a Glenbard North hitting error ended the first set.

"We've had a lot of close games against them," said Reynolds. "We always expect a battle when we play them."

Three consecutive aces from Kovanic helped the Blackhawks pull away early in the second set.

"They had some tough serving," said Panthers coach Dedra DeBenedetti. "It was a good fight. The guys battled for sure in that first set."

Led by Tee White and Brandon Gorzela, Glenbard North earned the third-place plaque with a 25-22, 25-20 win over Carmel.

"Hardware is nice," said DeBenedetti. "We saw some good things."

St. Charles North split its four matches, downing Geneva 26-24, 25-15 before falling to Bolingbrook by identical 25-20 scores in the Silver division championship.

Geneva pocketed the Silver consolation match by outlasting Joliet Central 25-18, 27-29, 25-16.