Boys volleyball: Hinsdale Central falls to Brother Rice in quarterfinals
There are mountains to climb, then there are the kinds of holes that Hinsdale Central dug for itself in each of its games against Brother Rice in the IHSA boys volleyball quarterfinals Friday at Hoffman Estates.
Hinsdale Central fell behind 9-1 in the first game and 11-5 in the second. Even though the Red Devils tied Brother Rice four times late in Game 2, they just didn't have enough to overtake the perennial powerhouse.
Brother Rice advanced to Saturday's semifinals against two-time defending state champion Glenbard West with a 25-17, 25-20 victory.
Despite the loss Hinsdale Central coach Mike Konrad savored the fight he saw from his team throughout the match.
"Had this been a college match where it's best-of-five games, maybe we win that third game," Konrad said. "I think we really settled in, had a lot more confidence and were making a lot more plays in that second game.
"We only have three seniors," he added. "Everybody else is brand new. I don't know how many of them have played at this level with all this pressure. But I'm very proud of how we regrouped and showed our toughness as a team."
A dump by junior setter John Zolpe pulled Hinsdale Central (29-11) within 17-11 in Game 1, but it was in Game 2 that the Red Devils showed their true grit. After trailing 11-5 early, they forced ties at 16, 17, 18 and 19 before a service error, two Brother Rice kills and another hitting error created some separation.
"We can make errors and get down 9-1, but we're still going to play hard and come out that second game with a lot of fire and more confidence," Konrad said.
Brother Rice (31-9) got 10 kills from Kyle Springer, 9 kills from John Banky, 5 kills from 6-foot-6 middle hitter Joe Kenzinger and 28 assists from Matt O'Donnell.
"We got a little tight on serve-receive in the second game," said Brother Rice coach Dan Dwyer. "The score got a little tight and the guys got a little tight. But when we can use our middles, we are a very, very good team."
Hinsdale Central was led by Mark Zelisko with 7 kills and 6 digs. Zolpe added 12 assists and Thomas Nelson had 5 digs. Cal Snyder and Owen Sarros both had 3 kills.
"Looking back to freshman year, I saw all the great teams that were at the school and I was like there was no way we were going to get this far or at the very least get to sectionals," Nelson said. "There was so much good talent that left the school.
"But we pulled it together pretty well," he added. "We had a really good season. I haven't seen a better record in the last four years so I was pretty happy with our result."