Boys volleyball: Glenbard West keeps control against West Aurora
West Aurora decided to err on the side of aggression, and it did. Again. And again.
Two-time defending state champion Glenbard West took advantage of 24 errors by the Blackhawks, including 12 service errors, to advance to Tuesday's sectional championship with a 25-15, 25-19 win at Oswego on Friday.
Glenbard West coach Christine Giunta-Mayer called it a difference in philosophy.
"Every coach has their own philosophy and mine has always been control your side, just control your side," she said. "We did an amazing job controlling our side and making minimal mistakes. I think we had 5 errors in Game 1 … maybe. I don't even know if we had that many in Game 2."
Johnny Winkler did his part to keep the pressure on West Aurora with 4 kills and 3 aces.
"Yesterday in practice we emphasized ball control because we knew this team (West Aurora) was going to give us a lot of power and a lot of junk that came over the net," he said. "So focusing on defense, knowing that our defense is backing up the block is huge for our blocks' confidence and for the entire team."
West Aurora (29-8) did challenge the Hilltoppers in Game 2, grabbing an early 10-6 lead. But Glenbard West went on a 12-4 run fueled by 6 more miscues by the fourth-seeded Blackhawks to put the set and match out of reach.
"I don't think I took a timeout, all I said was remember the scouting report and they did, they focused in on it," Giunta-Mayer said. "I told them they just had to remember what they're here for. This is what they worked so hard for."
Cameron Lilly had 5 kills for Glenbard West (37-1), which also got 11 assists, 2 kills and a block from Sean Farmer, 3 kills each by Robbie Murphy and Matt Scruggs, and 2 kills from J.T. Ardell.
Thomas Kovanic led West Aurora with 7 kills, Emmanuel Chaidez added 4 kills, a block and an ace, Tommy Garcia had 19 assists and Vinnie Manella contributed 5 kills and a block.
West Aurora coach Tolis Koskinaris made no apologies for his team's aggressiveness.
"Glenbard West is stellar," he said. "We had to go aggressive. We tried. They're just better right now. We tried our best. It was a ball-control game and they did. They really did."