WW South rallies for Classic win
When visiting volleyball teams enter the gym at Wheaton Warrenville South, it can be a little intimidating, what with the state championship banners on the wall and the full trophy cases outside in the halls.
When they show up for the annual Tiger Classic each spring, they also see very clearly the seven state title years noted on the program's cover.
That's why Minooka coach Mike Kargle was thrilled when his young squad took Thursday night's opening set 25-23. But the 2018 Tigers then flexed their muscles in taking the next two sets to claim a 23-25, 25-17, 25-19 victory in their tourney opener. Wheaton Warrenville South followed that up with a 25-23, 20-25, 25-16 win over Darby that advances them to Saturday's Gold Bracket quarterfinals against Lincoln-Way East.
"You're in their gym and you've got that stigma just from their history alone," Kargle said. "I'm very pleased and very impressed that we weren't intimidated. We played our match, we just made a few mistakes. When we get along in the season and get a little under our belt, we might be able to catch a few guys off guard."
While Wheaton Warrenville South did drop the first set, the hosts built a little momentum along the way, a boost that appeared to help them rally and claim the match. The Indians had a 15-7 lead following an ace by Evan Faifer and later led 20-14 after a Tigers' errant serve. But the Tigers fought back to within 22-21 following a kill from Billy Closset before eventually falling by two points.
The team's passing and blocking then kicked it up a notch the next two games, with 6-foot-6 sophomore outside hitter Josh Gottlieb and talented sophomore setter Zeo Meyer leading the way.
"I don't think we played our best in the first game, but it was nice that we got things going after that," said Gottlieb, who teamed with Chase Keating to put up a formidable block. "They're a good team, but we seemed to get more on track in the second game and then we played even better in the third."
Gottlieb said he and his teammates clicked on defense after getting a feel for what the Indians were doing with their attack, which was led by the ultra-athletic A.J. Lewis, a 6-4 junior who had 14 kills.
"Once we got an idea on who their best hitters were and where they were trying to go, we started blocking better and we picked up our defense. It's always nice to be able to pull out the win after not getting that first set."
The Tigers finished off the second set after Colin Rachford set up Gottlieb for a kill, then closed out the match with an ace from Meyer that ended the decisive set.
"That felt good. It was nice, but I still have to work more on my serving," Meyer said. "We didn't pass that well in the first set and passing is what matters most. We passed better in the last two games, and I felt like we were playing much better volleyball in the third set."
Joining the Tigers and Lincoln-Way East in the championship quarterfinals Saturday will be Barrington, Neuqua Valley, Lake Park, Benet, Brother Rice and Marist.