Boys volleyball: WW South surprises Neuqua Valley
Declin Ermer and the Wheaton Warrenville South boys volleyball team felt on top of the world.
And who could blame them?
Ermer and the Tigers finished the first set against Neuqua Valley on an 18-4 run to take the set.
"After the first (set) win, you feel like you can win, like you're unstoppable," Ermer said.
With only six wins on the season, and Neuqua carrying only four losses going into the match it was easy to understand why Ermer and the Tigers felt invincible.
And they carried that to the second set. Wheaton Warrenville South beat Neuqua Valley in a DuPage Valley Conference matchup 25-18, 27-25.
The win gives the Tigers tons of confidence.
"They only lost four games this entire season, we've had our fair share of loses," Ermer said. "Getting this win really shows that we can compete in the postseason. That's what we're striving for. We want to go far in the postseason."
Trailing 13-7 in the first set, Tigers coach Bill Schreier called a timeout. After the teams exchanged points Wheaton Warrenville South (7-19, 2-2 DVC) scored 9 straight points to take a 17-14 lead. The Tigers forced 3 errors in the run, and Zeo Meyer had 3 kills and 2 blocks in the run.
"I knew if we get our serves in, we can go on a run," Ermer said. "That's what we needed to do."
It stunned Neuqua Valley (20-5, 3-2).
"We got served off the court," Neuqua Valley coach Erich Mendoza said. "We knew how they were swinging. Timing was off defensively, even when the ball got past our block, back row wasn't in position. Those are mental mistakes."
The Tigers took advantage of that. They never let the Wildcats go on a run after they took the lead. Neuqua Valley scored consecutive points when they trailed 23-16 on Wheaton Warrenville South errors but never scored more than one point at a time.
"That stretch was easily the best stretch we've played all season," Schreier said. "So then you get concerned, what happens in the second set."
What happened was the Tigers hung with the Wildcats.
Wheaton Warrenville South took a 5-2 lead on an ace by Meyer, but a pair of Tigers errors and a block by Neuqua Valley's Ryan McGladdery tied the set at 5.
The Tigers were a bit tense.
"(You're) always nervous for games, especially tight games," Ermer said.
But Wheaton Warrenville South hung tough in a tight set. There were 17 ties and 6 lead changes in the second set. No team led for more than 3 points in that second set.
Neuqua Valley led 18-15, which forced a Wheaton Warrenville South timeout, but the Tigers scored four of the next five points to tie the match at 19.
Meyer connected with Josh Gottlieb on a kill to tie the match at 23. A hitting error by the Wildcats gave the Tigers match point, but the Tigers committed a hitting error of their own to tie it back at 24.
Meyer connected with Owen Struebing for a kill to give them another match-point, but again the Tigers had a hitting error to the match at 25.
Struebing had a block to make it 26-25 and their third match point, which forced a timeout from Mendoza and made WW South's Colin Rachford think about his upcoming serve a little longer.
"The other coach called a timeout and (Schreier) said get your feet set, get the block out," Ermer said.
Rachford's serve cleared the net and the Wildcats had an attack error that gave the Tigers the win.
"(Colin) handled it well, put it in perfectly, it worked out well," Ermer said. "Just seeing that ball fly out of bounds, it gets your joy so high. It's awesome."