Boys volleyball: Addison Trail stumbles against Oak Park

Addison Trail was just a little bit off its game Wednesday night. Oak Park-River Forest took advantage of the Blazers' letdown.

After clinching a share of West Suburban Conference Gold Division boys volleyball championship Tuesday night and then celebrating senior night before playing Oak Park, the Blazers didn't have enough energy left for Wednesday's WSC crossover match.

The result was an "off day," according to senior setter Jacob Grygo. The Huskies capitalized, taking a 25-21, 25-19 victory in Addison.

"We played a really good match yesterday (against Downers Grove South) and I was hoping it would carry over," Addison Trail coach Chad Grant said. "But we didn't have the same intensity that we did yesterday, and it was definitely a factor."

The Blazers (19-8) fell behind 8-4 and 12-6 in Game 1, then tried to claw back to even. Time and time again the Huskies did just what they needed to hold off the Blazers, never letting them get closer than 2 points.

"We struggled in serve receive and defensively," Grant said. "I thought offensively we did a good job when we were in system and had the ball there. But we're not the kind of team that's going to win on offense alone. We've got to serve better, we've got to pass better, we've got to defend better."

They had to be better against Oak Park (17-4).

"We were off a little bit," Grygo said. "We didn't want it as bad as the other team. It showed at the end of the game."

Game 2 was more of the same, only this time the Blazers never led, not even at the start.

"We've got a lot of weapons and it's just a matter of making the good pass and our setter, he's got ... five choices he can set the ball to," Oak Park coach Don August said.

Still, the Blazers are having another strong season.

"We have a lot of seniors that contribute for us," Grant said. "They're experienced. We're not flashy. We don't have a ton of big guys that are going to put the ball away. We play really well together and I think our kids play really smart and they play hard for the most part."