Conant shines bright with stunning finish
The Conant gym was nearly empty, but the final score of Game 3 of the championship match at the Cougars boys volleyball tournament still shined brightly on the scoreboard.
You couldn't have blamed the hosts if they wanted to keep the board lit up all night.
Conant, winners of 2 matches in pool play and a berth in the title game by virtue of a tiebreaker, rallied to stun Lyons Township 20-25, 26-24, 17-16 to win the tourney championship.
Lyons had won 3 matches and 7 straight games without a loss until Conant slammed the door.
"This is amazing," said Conant senior outside hitter Dan Aloisio. "It's great to see our team come together as a unit."
"Dedication," added senior Ryan Schraub (53 tourney assists) when asked the reason for Conant's success. "We all wanted to win this so bad."
Conant trailed the Lions by 4 points late in Game 2 but came back and an ace by David Kim sent them into the deciding third game.
With the score tied at 16-16 in Game 3, Ken Ropiak (31 tournament kills) slammed home a kill in the middle for the win.
"They're just picking up where they left off last year," said Conant coach Peggy Scholten of her team's stellar play late in 2007, a season that ended with a loss to Wheaton Warrenville South, the eventual state champion, in the West Chicago regional championship match.
"Even here, we had a disappointing loss to Lake Park (in pool play), but you have to give them credit for pulling together.
"We talked about playing through every point. Both teams (in the title game) had been playing all evening, so it was all about focus, intensity, and dedication."
Peter Lauterbach added 25 kills and 47 digs on the evening for the Cougars.
Conant handed York its only loss of the night by squeaking out a 27-26, 27-25 victory, but the Dukes came back to claim third place with a 25-14, 25-27, 15-11 win over Carmel.
"We didn't play as well as we could have (against Conant)," said York setter Sean Davis. "In this match (versus Carmel), our passing was much better, and Matt Brahm (senior outside hitter) was hitting the ball hard."
Carmel finished the tourney at 2-2 with wins over St. Charles East and Highland Park, while Stevenson claimed a final-match victory over the Saints.
Lake Park beat the Cougars in pool play and only a disappointing loss to York kept them from a spot in the championship game.
The Lancers recovered to beat Highland Park in the fifth-place match as Matt Durbin hit 11 kills.
"Our team played extremely well," said first- year Lake Park coach Brad Baker. "The level of improvement from Tuesday (a loss to Schaumburg) to today is fantastic."