Boys volleyball: Big finish leads to beautiful outcome for Hersey
The beauty of volleyball, among other reasons, is this:
No matter how poorly you play in the first set, there's always a second set to come.
And sometimes, a third.
Hersey was totally out of synch in the opener Tuesday against Libertyville, losing set 1 big while committing a slew of errors.
The Huskies, though, were able to turn it completely around.
Led by 13 kills from junior outside Jake Mailloux and terrific defense by Justin Hong and Mike Seneczko, Hersey rebounded to score a 12-25, 25-23, 25-22 Palatine sectional championship win.
The Huskies advance to the state finals and will play two-time defending state champion Glenbard West at 5 p.m. Friday at Hoffman Estates High School.
"We definitely played our worst set of the season," said Hersey junior defensive specialist Christian Hong. "We weren't mentally prepared, and we were playing lazy."
"In between games coach (Nancy) Lill just told us to go out and play our game, and if we played our game we'd win. Every single guy on the team went out and stepped it up."
For the second straight year, Libertyville (36-3) fell just short of a berth in the Elite Eight.
Seniors Ryan Hirschel (39 assists, 5 kills, 3 blocks, 6 digs), Sam Kharasch (19 digs) and Drew Fortini (8 kills) excelled for the Wildcats in defeat.
"Hersey played great defense," said Libertyville coach Jenny Smith. "I think we kind of shocked them in the first set with our aggressive serving and hard hitting.
"We were in control, but we didn't play as well as we have been playing the second and third games."
It was all Libertyville early on as Hersey couldn't get a block on big Wildcats hitters Jack Stevens and Brendan Cook.
"It was a rough game," said Huskies senior setter Vince Reisel of the early Hersey deficit. "We had a similar experience recently against Warren in the regional final. We lost the opening game there 25-14, so we knew we had it in us to come back again. It just took mental strength and toughness."
"We played clean the rest of the way, and I think the heart and soul we put into it shocked them a little. We were able to get the momentum back."
Hersey fell behind again in set 2 but rallied on the defense of Justin Hong and the hitting of Matt Hopkins, who got the set winner with a kill off the block.
"After I was injured (early in the season), I had to adjust mentally," said Hopkins, who missed more than half of Hersey's matches this season with a stress fracture and has just recently returned to the court. "I had to make up for lost time, and I'm so happy I can spend some more time with my teammates and my wonderful coaches."
The deciding set was back and forth until consecutive kills by Joe Nugent in the middle gave Hersey a 23-20 lead.
Libertyville fought back quickly behind a kill from Shane Feiereisel, and then an ace by Stevens. But with a chance to tie, the next Wildcats serve sailed long - the fifth serve over the end line in the set from the sectional's top seed.
Camran Saeed of Hersey got the match-winning kill when the Libertyville block saw the ball sail just out of bounds.
"We were just playing horrible," said Lill of the slow Huskies start. "That was not Hersey volleyball. We finally got in system and started to recover on the block - and on attack, Joe (Nugent), Camran (Saeed) and Matt (Hopkins) were on fire."
Nugent, Saeed and Hopkins finished with 8 kills apiece.
"These guys have gone through so much adversity this year," said Lill," but they came back tonight with a great attitude and the will to win."
Hersey will appear in the state finals for the first time since 2005, when Jodi Blazek, now a varsity assistant, was head coach.
"This one's special," said Blazek. "It's been a long time, and this is amazing. It's so much fun."
Reisel had 39 assists for Hersey, Justin Hong finished with 14 digs, while Stevens led the Libertyville offense with 12 kills and 2 aces.
"We were hoping for better," said Smith, "just like we were hoping for better last year - but you can't look past anyone."