Boys volleyball: Glenbard West stops Hersey's magical season

There was no magical comeback for Hersey in the quarterfinals of the boys volleyball state tournament at Hoffman Estates High School.

The Huskies had made a habit of staging some stirring rallies this postseason, but they were stopped in their tracks Friday by two-time defending state champion Glenbard West.

The Hilltoppers shook off a slow start and used a backbreaking 13-point run in the second set to win 25-19, 25-9. They advance to an 11 a.m. Saturday semifinal against Brother Rice, with the winner getting a shot at a state title at 5:15 p.m.

"I've never seen anything like that down here (at state)," said Glenbard West senior outside hitter Johnny Winkler, who has been on varsity since his sophomore season, of the 13 straight points. "To do something like that you've got to have everyone playing together as one."

Winkler led the Hilltoppers (39-1) with 7 kills, while Hersey senior libero Justin Hong finished with 9 digs and was a standout on serve receive.

"We might have had some jitters in the beginning, being on the big stage," said Huskies senior setter Vince Reisel (16 assists). "We were a little excited, but once we settled down we were able to take the lead and we were fighting for every point."

The high-water mark for Hersey came midway through the first set, when, led by superior blocking from senior Matt Hopkins, they took a 12-10 advantage.

But Glenbard West quickly took control thereafter and a kill by Cameron Lilly followed by a Hersey hit out of bounds gave set one to the Hilltoppers.

"We had played Hersey earlier in the year (a 25-22, 25-23 Glenbard West win)," said Hilltoppers senior setter Sean Farmer, "and to be honest I felt like we didn't respect them enough. That was a big mistake - they're a great team, and we made sure we watched a lot of film on them before this match. They came out firing."

The second set was back and forth until Glenbard West, hitting on all cylinders, took the score from 9-7 to 22-7 with a flurry of spectacular play.

Farmer (3 aces) and 6-foot-9 junior middle Jack Ardell (4 blocks during the run) led the way.

"You can't do that (13 straight points) with just one or two guys," said Glenbard West coach Christine Giunta-Mayer. "It takes the whole team. Hersey is phenomenal on defense - they're one of the best defensive teams in the state of Illinois. We knew they were going to exhaust us out there, and they did."

Lilly put down the final ball for the match win.

"I'm so proud of these guys," said Giunta-Mayer of her team. "They're very intelligent and very in tune about what we're trying to do, and they're very unselfish. There are no heroes on this team."

Zac Norvid had 6 digs for Glenbard West, Farmer recorded 17 assists, while Matthew Scruggs finished with 6 kills.

For Hersey, which finished at 33-7, Jake Mailloux led the way on attack with 7 kills while Hopkins pitched in with 5 kills.

"This whole season was a rollercoaster," said Hopkins, who missed more than half the Hersey matches this year due to injury. "I'm just blessed to have been able to compete alongside a great group of guys and for a great group of coaches. They helped me come back stronger than ever."

Hersey will graduate seven seniors from this year's squad which propelled the team to the first Huskies state trip since 2005.

"We had a lot of injuries this year," said Hong, "but every guy on the team was able to step up."

"This was a special group," said Hersey coach Nancy Lill. "They fought through all of the adversity they faced and kept rising up."