Tigers get 1 down, see 6 more to go
Wheaton Warrenville South is happy it is in the postseason.
The Tigers were somewhat unimpressed with their 28-7 regular-season record.
The top-seeded Tigers improved to 29-7 by knocking off 16th-seeded Hoffman Estates 25-15, 25-9 in the Wheaton Warrenville South regional semifinals.
"We had a little bit of jitters to start, but we overcame them," junior outside hitter Neill Nystrom said. "We are very confident right now because we are playing to our potential. Our regular season didn't go as planned so we want to go out and win seven straight. I think we are ready to go on a run like that."
In the first game WW South allowed the Hawks to go on an 8-2 run to grab an 11-8 lead. The Tigers responded with a 9-0 run themselves to grab a 17-11 and not allow Hoffman Estates to get closer than 5 points the rest of the game.
The reason for that 8-2 run by the Hawks was simple to junior middle Neal Whittington.
"The first few points we did have some jitters," Whittington said. "We were also playing their style of volleyball. We need to play our game and be more consistent and that won't happen. When we become comfortable during games we can be a very dangerous team and we proved that tonight."
One person who really helped out during the Tigers' 9-0 run was libero Brian Williams, who mixed up his serves well during a span in which he had 3 aces.
"One thing we really pride ourselves on is our serving," WW South coach Bill Schreier said. "We did a good job switching our serves up and keeping them off balance."
The second game was all WW South. It jumped out to a 12-4 lead and didn't look back after that. One thing the Tigers did was excel with the block, as they had 5 blocks in that second game.
"We saw some things they were doing during warmups and what they like to run," Schreier said. "We did an excellent job anticipating and setting up our blocks in the second game."
Nystrom had a game-high 6 kills in the match, while Joe Kelly had 15 assists in the win. Williams chipped in with 10 digs.
The Tigers will play seventh-seeded St. Charles North at home at 7 p.m. today in the regional final.