Boys volleyball: West Aurora takes 2nd at own tournament
Arturo Arcala seemingly put the West Aurora boys volleyball team on the cusp of drawing first blood Saturday afternoon.
But Oswego East did not allow another first-set point in the championship match of the Blackhawk Invitational in Aurora following the Arcala ace.
The West Aurora 5-point lead evaporated quickly as the Wolves scored the final 7 points and trailed only once in the second game to secure a program first: a tournament title with the 25-23 and 25-19 victory.
"I don't think they relaxed," West Aurora coach Tolis Koskinaris said of his players failing to close out the first set. "I think it was the exact opposite. I think they tried a little too hard."
The Blackhawks (3-3) committed three hitting errors in the Wolves-set-ending 7-point run.
The Wolves' Collin Harrison completed the unanswered run with a kill.
"We came out kind of flat," Harrison said. "We didn't want to give up. (Our deficit) was the same scenario against Glenbard North (in the semifinals)."
The second set was an error-filled affair as the Blackhawks never gained any rhythm or consistency after surrendering its first-game edge.
"We started off really strong," West Aurora sophomore Daniel Risner said. "Serve-receive slowed down a little bit. We pretty much were defeated as soon as we stepped on the court (for the second game)."
"The momentum shifted in their favor completely," West Aurora senior leader Michael Walker said. "We struggled to come back from that mentally. I don't think 'tried to hard' is the right (description)."
The Blackhawks' sole lead of the second game arrived on the first point scored.
Oswego East (6-3) limited the Blackhawks to 4 total kills in the second set.
West Aurora had service honors in an attempt to forge a sixth second-set tie, but the Wolves replied with four straight points en route to its milestone achievement.
"It's a season of firsts," Oswego East coach Brian Zerfas said.
The Blackhawks, after opening the season with back-to-back losses to state powerhouses Glenbard West and Neuqua Valley, defeated Joliet Central, Joliet West and Wheeling in straight sets to reach the championship final.
"The guys know what the need to do," said Koskinaris, who cited the all-around play of Walker and Tyler Long. "They did a lot of good things today. I think we're going to be pretty good."
Geneva dropped its first three matches in the tournament.
But the Vikings kept Waubonsie Valley still searching for its first win on the season with a come-from-behind 23-25, 25-14, 25-18 in one of the three consolation finals.
"We just started playing well as a team," said Geneva senior middle Will Courter, who paced the Vikings with 7 kills. "We were getting our serves in. We were just better together (after the first game).
The other statistical leaders for Geneva (2-7) against Waubonsie Valley were Matt Will (11 assists), Mikey Navigato (10 digs) and Anthony Panizzi (4 blocks).
Seniors Elliott Myong and Jonah Weisler combined for 9 kills for the Warriors (0-6).
Ian Krohn had the last of 151 total points as Glenbard North won its consolation final against Wheeling 22-25, 25-23 and 29-27.
Krohn finished with 22 kills but was not even the match leader as teammate Sufyaan Ahmed had 23.
Alex Fiduccia added another 20 kills for the Panthers (5-2).
Sun Khaitan had an astonishing 53 assists for Glenbard North.
"We stayed in it and kept battling," Glenbard North coach Dedra DeBenedetti said. "We kind of had our backs against the wall, and Fiduccia came in and got side outs."