Boys volleyball: Hinsdale Central turns tables on Metea Valley
Despite already beating Hinsdale Central twice this season, junior setter Matt Nealon and his Metea Valley boys volleyball teammates knew another rematch for the York Invitational championship Saturday wouldn't be easy.
The outcome was extremely hard to take.
Metea won the first set and had one match point, but the Red Devils rallied for the 20-25, 26-24, 25-23 victory in Elmhurst.
The Mustangs (13-10) had beaten the Red Devils (15-5) 17-25, 25-23, 15-12 Friday to win their pool and 25-23, 16-25, 25-21 on March 21 in both teams' season opener.
"All of those games have gone to three. (Friday) was kind of a good morale booster for the rest of the day, but then coming back today, I guess they came out with a little more than we had left," Nealon said. "They got the win, but ultimately they're a great team and I thought we played well overall."
Metea junior Andrew Kohut had 14 kills along with 10 from senior Ryan Evans, 8 by senior Miles Ollee and 5 from junior Joey Kisiel. Nealon had 36 assists. Junior libero Tim Medina, Evans, Nealon and Kisiel each had 4 digs.
Hinsdale Central senior Mark Zelisko delivered 19 kills and senior Owen Sarros had 5. Junior setter John Zolpe had 24 assists and 4 blocks and senior libero Thomas Nelson had 3 aces and 13 digs.
The Red Devils never trailed after scoring three straight points to pull ahead 21-19 in the third game. The Mustangs came back to tie 21-21 on kills by junior Eddie Forsythe and Kohut before the Red Devils scored the next three points for match point.
Kohut's kill and block assist with Forsythe closed the gap to 24-23. Sarros scored on a middle set off serve receive to end the match.
"It was a great game. The first game of the season we weren't quite ready for them and (Friday) we weren't play our best game but we played well today," Zelisko said. "I think we brought a lot more energy to the second and third game."
The third game nearly wasn't. The Mustangs had match point at 24-23 after Kohut's kill but their ensuing serve landed out of bounds just beyond the end line. The Red Devils closed out the game with sophomore Richard Snyder's solo block and an attack error.
"You see the back and forth style of play at the end of Games 2 and 3 and that's just how we play them. They're a good team and they played tough. They deserved to win that one," Metea coach John Aister said.
"I told the guys in intermission between one and two to be ready because they're not giving up. We had match point and missed a serve and couldn't close so credit to them for earning points in that situation. We learned our lesson. You've got to close the match when you have a chance."
The Red Devils have just three seniors but important ones in Zelisko, Nelson and Sarros - and play several sophomores.
"It's the good and the bad, learning on the fly," Hinsdale Central coach Mike Konrad said. "(Winning) was nice. They were very close (matches with Metea) every time we play. Both teams know each other pretty well so it's just volleyball at that point. Play hard and see what happens."
York (15-7) concluded its inspired invite effort by taking third place 25-21, 25-20 over Wheaton North (12-12).
Seniors Evan Haug and Michael Pennel had 5 and 4 kills for the Dukes. Senior Rio Diaz had 15 assists, junior John Nosek 3 blocks, Haug and junior Matt Howlett 2 aces each and Haug, junior Michael Deaton and sophomore Adrian Kocinski 6 digs apiece.
For the Falcons, juniors Daniel Duggan and Drew Ogilvie had 6 and 5 kills. Senior Anthony Nickels had 15 assists and senior Cory Nickels had 7 digs.
The Dukes have only four key returning players from last year's 21-6 team but also a junior varsity group that only lost once.
Because of injuries, eight players have been sidelined. Five were out Saturday, three of them starters.
"We're starting to hit a stride. (But) just getting some continuity and consistency has been difficult," York coach Ken Dowdy said. "I was very pleased that our reserves were able to step in and contribute. To get out of this tournament 4-1 under those circumstances is outstanding. I thought Friday we played some of the best volleyball we've played all year."
Conference foes met in the semifinals. Hinsdale Central defeated York 25-20, 25-20 after winning their West Suburban Silver match 17-25, 25-13, 25-17 Tuesday in Elmhurst. Metea defeated Wheaton North 25-21, 25-20 three days before their DuPage Valley Conference meeting in Aurora.