Boys volleyball: Glenbard West shows Downers Grove North how it adjusted
Glenbard West on Tuesday displayed an important quality for a boys volleyball team: The ability to learn quickly.
The three-time defending state champion Hilltoppers defeated West Suburban Silver rival Downers Grove North 25-16, 25-15 in Glen Ellyn using what they learned in a March 22 loss to 2017 runner-up Lincoln-Way East.
"We came off a loss to Lincoln-Way East, which is not a big deal," Hilltoppers coach Christine Giunta-Mayer said. "We knew it was going to be a tough game. But we really needed to kind of know who we were. That game happened. We came back to practice. We doubled it up. And we fixed a lot of things we saw. Everything we tried to fix I saw on the court today, which was a huge step for us. Huge.
"Especially the block. We fixed a lot of the block and that helped us a lot. We had a lot of blocks today."
It showed. The Hilltoppers trailed only once in the two sets, 1-0 in the first. The Trojans (5-4, 0-1) cut a 5-point deficit to 14-12, but the Hilltoppers pulled away with defensive specialist Jackson Roach serving a pair of aces in a 7-point run. He finished with 3 aces and 2 digs.
"I saw a lot of guys just all around step up," Hilltoppers captain Stone Metz said. "I really feel like everybody did their job tonight. Overall I thought it was a great performance out of the team. (Setter Henry Curtis) really stepped up today, did a great job giving some variance in the offense. Helped out all around the court."
The Hilltoppers (2-1, 1-0) led start to finish in the second set, going ahead 19-9 and never letting the Trojans get closer than 9 points again.
"Today I felt we had a lot more confidence than we did against Lincoln-Way East," Metz said. "I thought we felt a lot more comfortable. I thought a lot of guys stepped up that weren't there against Lincoln-Way East."
Ryan Swartz impressed with 5 kills, 2 blocks and 2 digs. Metz added 5 kills, 2 blocks and a dig, and Curtis had 22 assists and 3 kills.
The Trojans hope to learn from Tuesday's defeat.
"We didn't play very well and Glenbard West is really good," Trojans coach Mark Wasik said. "So if you come into this situation early in the season, these guys are super comfortable with what they're trying to do. I have a lot of youth at critical positions, and it showed. The youth came out."