Boys volleyball: Another night of fun and winning for Lake Park

Lake Park isn't terribly tall, physically imposing or particularly loud on the court.

The Lancers just do what they do, and what they do is have fun and win. A lot.

Jack Fischer had 6 kills and 2 aces, Justin Yost added 12 assists and 4 kills and junior middle hitter Nick Martinski had 5 kills, 2 blocks and 2 aces as top-ranked Lake Park improved to 29-1 (5-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference) with a 25-12, 25-19 victory over Metea Valley on Tuesday in Roselle.

"We have a team that wants to work 100 percent every day in practice," Fischer said. "We have good chemistry. I feel like this is the closest team we've had in the three years I've been on varsity. We know each other, we work well together, and we are all together off the court and on the court doing it as one."

There is even talk around the team of an extremely long run in the state tournament. Lake Park has never finished better than fourth place (2014). However, two-time defending state champion Glenbard West, which ousted Lake Park in the quarterfinals each of the last two years, is in the opposite half of the bracket this spring.

"We talk about it," Fischer said. "Since winning our first tournament (at Wheaton Warrenville South), which a Lake Park team has never won, ever since then we've been talking about getting to state and making our way one by one."

Lake Park flashed some of that title potential Tuesday against Metea Valley, opening an early 13-6 lead in Game 1 then rallying from a 10-7 deficit in Game 2 on the strength of a 12-3 run.

"There's a lot of ups and downs throughout the season," Lake Park coach Tim Murphy said. "By no means do we just go out there and handle teams. We've had adversity thrown at us. We've been down at times this season and we've been able to battle back.

"I value those experiences when it's close," he added. "Those are valuable experiences come playoff time that you're able to draw from. We've been down 3, 4 points before. We just say, 'Let's not panic. Let's just do things the way we normally do things.'"

Leadership from seniors like Fischer and Yost will be invaluable during the state playoffs.

"Fischer and Yost are both legacies," Murphy said. "They both had brothers (Jeff Yost and Brian Fischer) who have come through the program, so they been around since they were in middle school. They've been chomping at the bit to be seniors and have a chance to play in the state tournament."

Metea Valley (16-16, 1-5) got 5 kills from junior Tommy Jepson, 13 assists and 5 kills from junior setter Matthew Nealon, 3 kills and a block from 6-5 junior rightside hitter Andrew Kobut, and 8 digs from junior libero Tim Medina.

"This match kind of defines our season," Metea Valley coach John Aister said. "We have moments where we can compete with better teams like this, and we've had moments where we struggle to get the ball over the net. Against a team as good as Lake Park, you just can't do that."

The Mustangs played without 6-1 senior outside hitter Ryan Evans (ankle injury), who they hope to get back before the state tournament begins in two weeks.

"But the guys who are in there are battling, grinding, trying to make up for his absence," Aister said.