Boys volleyball: Glenbard West wins fourth straight regional
When you've been through countless big regional, sectional and state finals matches the last couple of years, trailing by a single point late in a game is no big deal.
Even so, the Glenbard West boys volleyball team burned a timeout Wednesday night after a kill by Downers Grove South's Shawn Tischler put the Mustangs on top 15-14 in the second game of the regional final in Glen Ellyn.
A 23-win Downers Grove South team was doing its best to make the two-time defending state champs sweat a little. The Mustangs trailed just 17-14 in the opener before falling 25-16, then grabbed the late lead in the second set. The Hilltoppers won the second set 25-19.
But the top-seeded 36-1 Hilltoppers did what they always seem to do. They made big play after big play down the stretch while closing out the game and the match with an 11-4 run to claim a fourth straight regional crown. They advanced to Friday's Oswego sectional semifinal against West Aurora.
"Coming to the end of the season you know they're going to fight with everything they have," Glenbard West's Cameron Lilly said of the battle put up by the Mustangs. "They have a lot of seniors on the court, a lot of experience and they're a good team. But I think we were able to rely on our previous experience of going to state and just kind of pull it through."
After Downers Grove South had pulled to within 17-14 in the first game, Lilly responded with two big kills sandwiched around a block by Matthew Scruggs as the champs quickly expanded that 3-point margin into a 21-14 lead on their way to taking the opener.
It was more of the same in the second game. The underdogs gave it their all only to see Lilly add to his match-high 12 kills, along with timely serving and hitting from Johnny Winkler and another stellar performance from setter Sean Farmer, who finished the match with 22 assists and 6 digs.
Winkler delivered a block kill and an ace to give the Hilltoppers a 16-15 lead in the final game, and before the Mustangs knew what hit them, that 11-4 surge had ended their season.
"Especially for all the seniors, we were looking forward to this game because we knew we had to get through them to get to state because they're always in our sectional," said Tischler, a senior who has had his season ended the last three seasons by the Hilltoppers. "So we kind of tailored our practices all year basically for this match, you know trying to run fast and play defense and aggressive serves. It worked for the most part, but we just couldn't pull it off."
Farmer tipped his hat to the Mustangs, but like Lilly, felt his team's big-game background helped again.
"Downers South's a really good team. All the credit in the world to them, they came out ready to play," Farmer said. "We were down in the second set, but I think one of the things that separates this team is that we can be losing and all six guys on the court, we just don't think we're going to lose."
Hilltoppers coach Christine Giunta-Mayer, whose team has won 98 of its last 99 matches, felt her team's defense and blocking made the difference. Zach Norvid had 7 digs and J.T. Ardell had 5 blocks.
"They're well-coached, a very good team," she said of Downers Grove South. "They have weapons everywhere. Our block and our defense saved us today."