Boys volleyball: Robbins, WW South ready for Glenbard North

When things got tight Tuesday, senior Luke Robbins and his Wheaton Warrenville South boys volleyball teammates were ready this time.

Glenbard North came within one point four times in the second game, but behind Robbins' serving, the Tigers held and finished strong for the 25-18, 25-17 DuPage Valley Conference victory in Wheaton.

"That's another thing we've been focusing on a lot, just one point after another. It's not about the long run. It's not about the end of the game. It's the next point and the next point," Robbins said.

"I think this is not the exception. This is the standard (for our team). We've just got to keep building from here."

The Tigers (11-13, 2-1) rode led a balanced attack with 8 kills and 8 digs from Robbins, 6 kills from senior Daniel Higley and 5 by senior Matt Berringer. Senior Alex Carr provided 17 assists and 4 blocks.

Seniors Trent Weber and Eric Tripp each had 4 kills for Glenbard North (13-9, 1-2).

Strong serve receive and offensive balance continue to fuel the Tigers, especially after graduating all-time kill leader Zack Meyer. Junior libero Matt Hildebrand and freshman Zeo Meyer often give the Tigers three court players with setting backgrounds.

"It's going from last year, where we had one person I could rely on, to this year, where I rely on every single person," Carr said. "(Our serve receive) makes me job a whole lot easier. All the credit to them. I could spread the ball wherever I needed to."

In Saturday's championship quarterfinals of the Downers Grove South Invitational, the Tigers led Lake Park - the Daily Herald's No. 1-ranked team - 22-21 in the third game. Then came two straight unforced errors and a disappointing yet encouraging 25-22, 18-25, 25-23 defeat, especially since the Lancers won their DVC meeting four days earlier 25-18, 25-12.

"Ultimately they developed some confidence in their abilities (Saturday)," WW South coach Bill Schreier said. "It's just a matter of them meshing and we're really starting to get that point now."

From there the Tigers finished eighth, losing to Downers South and Oak Park-River Forest. At the Schaumburg Invite, the Panthers also had a tough Saturday, finishing fourth by losing to Maine East in three and Libertyville in a close two tight games.

On Tuesday the Panthers had 18 kills but 13 attack errors and 7 service errors with no aces.

"We came out flat and I don't know why. But I didn't have a good feeling," Glenbard North coach Dedra DeBenedetti said. "(In the second game) we have a nice run and we side out. We have to take advantage of it. We can't play point for point."

Higley had 4 kills in the first game and served for three points that gave the Tigers an 18-11 lead. They led 11-6 in the second game.

"The biggest thing we learned (from Saturday) is keeping the energy high throughout the whole entire day," Robbins said.

Still, the Panthers found momentum in the second game. They brought in senior Sanchit Kaitan for a two-setter offense and got two emotional points off blocks.

They closed to 13-12, 14-13, 15-14 and 16-15. After a kill by Robbins off serve receive, he served the 7 straight points and the Tigers had their first match point at 24-15.

"That's something we've been talking about, especially after the Lake Park match. You always want to be that team that has the one-point lead, just physically forcing them to try and catch you," Schreier said. "It's way more pressure on them."

Kills by Tripp and junior Sufyaan Ahmed closed the gap to 24-17. Berringer responded with a match-ending kill off serve receive.

"We just kept pounding and eventually, mentally the opponent just broke down. I think that's what we really want to do," Carr said.

In the second game Robbins served for 11 points and had the only two aces of the match. His 4 kills included one from the back row for an 18-15 lead.

"(Playing so much back row was) relaxing. The sets were just there and I was feeling it. It just kind of happened to fall in place," Robbins said. "(My serving) depends if my top serve is whaling out of bounds or it's actually going in."

The Tigers' tough schedule continues at home Wednesday against perennial power Sandburg and Saturday in Wildwood, Mo. with five matches in their first trip to the Lafayette High School Tournament in Wildwood, Mo. Lafayette played at the Tiger Classic March 31-April 1.

"The mentality for us is we'll play anyone anywhere," Schreier said.