Boys volleyball: Lake Park defeats Wheaton North, takes control in DuPage Valley

Lake Park needed a "turnaround moment" to its season Thursday night, coach Brian Fischer said. Facing Wheaton North added extra motivation.

The Lancers notched an important DuPage Valley Conference boys volleyball victory, putting some distance between themselves and the Falcons in the league standings with a 25-22, 25-17 victory in Roselle.

"We were pretty excited," Lancers senior Nick Martinski said. "We knew that this was a big conference week going in, having two conference games, and we knew that they were on a hot streak, and they had our names. So we were really pumped up to come and play tonight."

It showed.

"Just crediting Lake Park, they rose to the occasion," said Wheaton North coach John Noe, who saw growth in his Falcons (16-5, 2-2) when measured against Lake Park. "As good as we were playing, they were just better than us. We felt like we worked as hard as we could, and now we have to work a little bit harder."

After a two-loss Saturday at the Lincoln-Way East tournament, the Lancers (25-4, 4-0) - who placed third at state last year and have even higher hopes this season - went looking to regain momentum for the season.

"We were kind of struggling this last week. We kind of really focused up yesterday and had a good practice. It definitely came on over into the match," Fischer said.

Game 1 featured 6 ties, the last at 15-15. The Lancers gradually pulled away, with Jordan Haigh serving for 4 straight points to put Lake Park ahead 23-18. The Falcons never recovered.

Game 2 picked up where Game 1 left off, with Lake Park taking the lead early and holding on throughout. A Zach Deardorff kill put the Lancers ahead 6-2, and though the Falcons twice pulled within a point, they couldn't gain the lead. A Max Ellenbecker kill gave them a 19-13 lead, putting the Lancers in control.

"Our blocking was a really big part of it, really being able to shut down their hitters. Make them swing at shots they don't normally swing at, make them uncomfortable. It energizes us getting those big blocks and I think it just helps our defense all around," Martinski said.

Martinski led the way with 10 kills, 6 digs and 3 blocks.

"He was great," Fischer said. "Obviously, he's a big, lanky kid with a great vertical. We talked a lot about his timing. He's been off and kind of like running to the ball too early and not being able to get up to his approach to attack. I thought he did a great job adjusting tonight with what we were working on, being able to hit the ball over the block, around the block in those different situations with his timing being the right way."