Boys volleyball: York hears the talk, walks the walk to beat Willowbrook
Trailing by a score of 16-11 in the first set on Thursday night at home against Willowbrook having already committed 6 unforced errors, York boys volleyball coach Ken Dowdy knew he needed a timeout to recalibrate.
The message was simple: Eliminate unforced errors. But it was well received and York rallied, winning the set and ultimately the match 25-22, 21-25, 25-20.
"We've talked about that for the last two weeks. We've been struggling, facing some really good teams, but we're making more mental mistakes on our side than anything," Dowdy said. "But they were able to battle through a 5-point deficit and if there's one thing I've been impressed with this year it's that we've been able to do that several times."
Coming out of the timeout, York rallied and tied the game at 20 on the only ace of the night by Matt Howlett. The Dukes went on to take the set when backup setter Matt Reishus recorded a block to end it 25-22.
It was part of a massive day for Reishus, who was filling in for starting setter Ryan Schaner while he was away for a prior engagement. He finished the day with 39 assists.
"He did a great job of setting to the outside. They weren't trap sets and guys were able to read the block and get some points without just swinging away into the block," Dowdy said.
In the second set Willowbrook had its own come-from-behind moment. Having lost an 11-8 lead on three consecutive unforced errors to trail 15-14, the Warriors came out of a timeout and utilized the versatility of setter Nick Cookingham to attack open spaces in the defense and score a 25-20 win.
Cookingham recorded 5 kills in that set to go along with 21 assists. On a night when the hitting wasn't what Willowbrook coach Ryan Lazio wanted, the adjustment gave them life.
"What was nice about it was when we called the timeout we said, 'Hey, let's go ahead and let's do this.' And our guys executed," Lazio said. "It all started with the passing to get (Cookingham) that nice tight pass to the net to take the ball over and get the momentum back on our side."
Unfortunately for Willowbrook, York rebounded in the third set, jumping out to a lead. Coming out of a timeout where it trailed 17-11, Willowbrook made one final charge to cut it to 17-14 on a block by Jevon Lowery.
He finished with 4 blocks on the night and 2 kills. Tim Keefe added 7 kills for Willowbrook while Joe Cavazos finished with 9. Matt Howlett led York with 14 kills while John Sopko and Michael Dirmish kicked in 10 apiece.
York re-established itself after its own timeout following the Lowery block and won 25-20 on a middle kill from John Nosek.