Boys volleyball: Sweet victory as Antioch edges Grayslake Central

Let them eat cake!

Players on the Antioch boys volleyball team will be doing just that at Friday's practice.

Cake is their sweet reward for getting what they've been so hungry for: their first win of the season. The Sequoits did that on Thursday night in a 21-25, 25-23, 25-18 three-set comeback over host Grayslake Central.

"I requested chocolate cake," Antioch senior hitter Ian Flatley said with a smile after rolling up 10 kills, 10 digs and 10 service points. "Our coach offered us cake if we won. That kind of brought us up (after the loss in the first set)."

Cake might be the Sequoits' incentive for the rest of the season.

"If winning means cakes (after every game), then I'm fine with that," Antioch coach Jamie Atkinson said. "Now, I don't bake, so it will be a purchased cake. But my paycheck will be going to a good place if we keep winning.

"Tomorrow will definitely be a cake practice. Cake will be a good thing for them."

Antioch, which is now 1-3 and had gotten swept in its previous three matches, fell behind early, dropping the first set to a Grayslake Central team that gains confidence with every single point it wins.

The Rams are in the midst of their very first season as a program and only one player on the roster has club experience. To come out of the gates and win a first set is an important building block for Grayslake Central, which drops to 2-5.

"The team was feeling great, we were doing really great," said Grayslake Central junior hitter Keegan Zack, who finished with 13 kills and is that lone club player on the team. "But one thing about volleyball is that it can just turn in a second, and out nowhere you're losing.

"We just couldn't get it back (in the third game). But we're fine. I've been amazed at how fast everyone is picking up everything. Most of the guys on our team just decided to play volleyball this year. Maybe they played it in gym a couple times and they were like, 'Hey, why not play volleyball this year?' But I was excited when I saw some of the talent at tryouts. I feel like we can go pretty far this year, even though we're a new team."

Antioch outlasted Grayslake Central in a nip-and-tuck second set, thanks to some steady serving by Nathan Cielek, Jordan Hart and Kristian Jimenez, and big kills by Flatley.

Cielek helped Antioch take control in the third game, extending a 17-15 lead to 21-15 with 4 straight points.

"I think my guys really struggled tonight with being the ones to set the tempo," Atkinson said. "I don't think we were able to set it until towards the end of the second game, and then in the third game, I saw them doing some things where it was like, 'OK. They're comfortable now.'

"I kept reminding them that we needed to be the ones in control of the match. That was key, and once they started to see that they were being successful, it was like everything came together."

Jimenez added 7 digs, 5 kills and 2 blocks for Antioch, while setter Jordan Hart rolled up 16 assists to go along with 4 digs and 4 kills.

For Grayslake Central, Bobby Fortmann and Ethan Rockel each had 2 blocks, Josh Garcia had 6 digs and Matt Kozak and Jonathan Wong finished with 12 and 8 assists, respectively.

"So far this year, we've only gone to three games one other time, when we faced Huntley in a quad," Grayslake Central coach Dan Erlenbaugh said. "We won that one, but going up against a team like Antioch that has been around for a few years and has more experience than we do is tough.

"But I'm extremely proud of the way we played. We definitely did not give up. We kept pushing the entire time. The energy we have really pushes the entire team and I was telling them after the game that if someone were to walk in and watch that match, they probably would not think that this is our first year."