Boys volleyball: Lake Park wins DVC for third straight year

After its unbeaten run through the challenging DuPage Valley Conference was derailed by Neuqua Valley two days earlier, Lake Park still had plenty to play for Thursday.

The outright league boys volleyball title was on the line, coupled with Senior Night festivities and a final tuneup for next week's start of the postseason.

Turns out, Naperville Central nearly spoiled the party before the Lancers prevailed in thrilling fashion, outlasting the Redhawks 25-23, 24-26, 25-16.

Lake Park, the second seed behind three-time defending state champ Glenbard West in the Addison Trail sectional, improved to 29-5 on the spring while capturing its third straight conference championship. Naperville Central will head into the playoffs with a mark of 21-13.

"We knew it was going to be a fun atmosphere," said senior outside hitter Nicholas Martinski, who totaled 7 kills in the deciding third game. "It was a nice crowd, it was Senior Night, and it was great to get a whole team win. I've been playing with these guys for the past four years. So it's great to win as a team and it makes it even sweeter that it was for a conference championship."

The visitors actually led 9-8 in the third game before the Lancers rattled off 10 points in a row behind the serving of Austin Bayner.

The Redhawks had battled back in the middle game, overcoming a late 23-20 deficit as Carter Stenmark had a block and a kill and Felix Egharevba had one of his team-high 12 kills.

"The first two sets really demonstrated that we can play and compete," said Naperville Central coach Roger Strausberger, whose team is the fourth seed at the IMSA sectional. "The third set shows we still have things to work on. We have just struggled being consistent at times this year."

In the opener Naperville Central jumped out to a 19-13 advantage before Lake Park roared back behind 3 kills and 3 service points from Jordan Haigh.

"Against Neuqua Valley (on Tuesday), that match really opened our eyes," Haigh said. "Our season could end with any match. We have to play each game like it's our last game. Hopefully this is a steppingstone. First win conference and then just go playoff match by playoff match."

Martinski finished with 14 kills and Haigh totaled 13.

"We dug ourselves holes in each game," Lake Park coach Brian Fischer said. "With that said, we love the way the team was able to battle back in each one. We like that fighting mentality and that's a good trait to have, especially when it comes down to the postseason."