Boys volleyball: Neuqua Valley pulls another playoff upset
There's something about the playoffs that bring out the best in Neuqua Valley.
Last year as the 12th seed the Wildcats knocked off No. 5 Benet and No. 4 West Aurora to reach the sectional.
Tuesday at Naperville North, No. 6 Neuqua Valley added third-seeded Glenbard East to that list, winning 14-25, 25-23, 25-17.
Neuqua Valley advanced to the Oswego sectional to face Downers Grove North at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
"It's a different animal in the playoffs," said Neuqua Valley's 6-foot-7 sophomore setter, Kevin Kauling. "It was another underdog story. In the playoffs, momentum is everything."
Kauling, the only player on this year's roster to see the floor during last year's regional victories, led the Wildcats with 25 assists, 2 blocks and a kill. He also provided a steadying hand when the Rams fought back from a 20-12 deficit in Game 2 to close within 24-23.
Game 3 was more of the same. Neuqua Valley (27-9) opened a 21-13 lead, then watched as Glenbard East reeled off 4 unanswered points before A.J. Housholder ended the Rams' run.
"I was a little scared," Kauling said. "I was really scared. But I felt like as a team we've delivered before. We've been in those situations in tournaments. We just got the job done."
Game 1 was all Glenbard East (28-9), which rode the hot hand of Adrian Cebula to close the set on a 13-2 run. But the Rams ran out of magic after pulling within a point in the second set, and they allowed the Wildcats to build another big lead in Game 3 thanks to a flurry of errors.
"Glenbard East blocked us a few times in Game 1," said Neuqua Valley coach Erich Mendoza. "They also got some good digs on us and frustrated us a little bit. What made us better in Game 2 was we passed better. The same thing in Game 3. That made us a little less predictable."
Sophomore Carson Brandt had 9 kills and a block for Glenbard East, which also got 13 assists and 5 kills from Mason Arnold and 13 assists from Jake Eagan.
"Serve receive broke down a little bit in Games 2 and 3 and we weren't able to run as good an offense as we would like," said Glenbard East coach Marci Maier. "We were sending over too many free balls and they were in system a lot more than we were."
Neuqua Valley got 10 kills and a block from junior Jeremy Grove, 6 kills and a block from Housholder, and 4 kills and 2 blocks from Jeremy Cardenas.
"A lot of those guys have never been in this spot," Kauling said. "I really like the way they came together. We just have to go out there and play our game … simple, sweet."