Boys volleyball: St. Charles North tops Wheaton North for regional crown
Todd Weimer got just what he wanted for his 38th birthday.
St. Charles North's boys volleyball coach watched his team play one of their best matches of the season Wednesday in a 25-20, 25-23 win over Wheaton North in the St. Charles North regional championship game.
The fifth-seeded North Stars advance to the Addison Trail sectional where they will play No. 1 Glenbard West on Friday.
"Wheaton North has a lot of big guys and is very athletic," Weimer said. "We executed on a lot of things. Serve-receive, blocking, we tried to get them out of system as much as possible. We felt when they were in system they could be lethal."
No. 4 seed Wheaton North ends its season at 24-13.
Afterward Weimer's team, which includes 10 seniors, sang to their coach. It's the North Stars' third straight regional title. Seniors Max DeDobbelaere and Tom Koppang have been part of all three regional championship teams.
"We set our goals at the beginning of the year and this was a big one," North Star senior David Beach said.
Both sets were tight - 10 ties and 2 lead changes in the first and 12 ties and 4 lead changes in the second.
St. Charles North (27-11) broke free from the final tie of the first set at 15-15 on Brendan Dal Degan's kill. He followed by putting down another shot for a 2-point lead, and the Falcons didn't get closer down the stretch.
Wheaton North coach John Noe called his first timeout down 20-17 after a kill from Zach Yakes and his second timeout when Koppang's rocket made it 23-19.
The North Stars got to 24 on Koppang's block and 25 on the Pepperdine-bound senior's kill.
"Smart hits were a big factor," Beach said. "Our hits were kind of inconsistent last night (in a 3-set win over St. Charles East). Just being smart with our hitting and blocking well and finding the right matchups."
The Falcons took a few brief leads early in the second set but never by more than 1 point. Down 19-16, Wheaton North rallied to tie the set at 20-20 on Paxton Kocher's block and 21-21 on a kill by Kocher.
Kyle Donlevy's winner put the North Stars ahead to stay. After a Falcon violation, Koppang's block made it 24-21.
Wheaton North fought off 2 match points before Beach sealed the win with a kill down the line.
"We have had trouble putting games away so I just wanted to put that one away, just finish it right then and there," Beach said.
Koppang led both teams with 11 kills. Donlevy, DalDegan and Yakes all had 3 kills. Beach set 14 assists and Dedobbelaere had 8 digs.
Benett Schreiner had 9 kills for the Falcons, who graduate 8 seniors.
"We have enjoyed tremendous leadership out of them, we have enjoyed tremendous maturity out of them," Noe said.
"It was a great regional final, it was a great matchup. Both teams had it at different points in the two sets. It really was a battle all the way to the end. Credit to them. When it came down to the close they were able to get that 2-point, 3-point run."