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Boys volleyball: Glenbard East holds off West Aurora

Time and again, the West Aurora boys volleyball team lost any hope of gaining momentum from the service line Tuesday evening.

In an Upstate Eight Conference match in Aurora featuring two undefeated league programs, Glenbard East rallied from a first-set loss to seize command of the single-division standings.

Mason Arnold was the Rams' offensive and defensive leader as Glenbard East prevailed 21-25, 25-19 and 25-21.

The Rams' senior had a team-high 7 kills, an equal number of assists and a match-best 16 digs.

Nineteen of the Rams' 71 points came off West Aurora service errors.

"(The Blackhawks) serve very aggressively," Glenbard East coach Marci Maier said. "I'm happy that our team let them go out of bounds. A lot of times teams will play those balls. I was glad that our team was disciplined enough to let them go."

"That was really our downfall," West Aurora Loyola-bound senior Thomas Kovanic said of the service errors. "That killed us. If you can't get the ball over the net, you can't do anything with it. We kind of relaxed too much (after the first set). Rolling into the third set, we didn't get back our dominance from the first set."

Glenbard East (12-4, 3-0) never trailed in the decisive third game as Kovanic, who was a force throughout with his match-high 15 kills, had an ace to forge what proved to be only the second - and last - tie of the set at 5-5.

The Rams surged ahead as back-to-back West Aurora hitting mistakes turned into a 7-2 spurt for Glenbard East.

Arnold had one of his team-best kills to continue the pressure against the Blackhawks (12-4, 4-1); the Rams' lead was never less than 3 points as the team near the 20-point barrier.

"I think it was higher energy," Arnold said of the difference over the last two games. "We had good energy in the first game, but we really cranked it up in the second set. The energy is what pulled us through to win the second set."

The Blackhawks' Tommy Garcia, Tommy Chaidez and Kovanic had consecutive kills to reduce the Rams' cushion to 19-18.

But West Aurora could never create a third tie of the final set.

Carson Brandt had back-to-back critical points for Glenbard East and not even the last of the Kovanic kills on consecutive attempts could save West Aurora.

Brandon Banks' kill ended the match on the ensuing point for Glenbard East.

The Blackhawks' unforced errors from the service line were a recurring theme.

"We do go for the home-run swing when we go back to serve," West Aurora coach Tolis Koskinaris said. "Glenbard East played a better game. It's as simple as that."

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