Boys volleyball: Defending state champion Glenbard West opens with victory
When we last saw the Glenbard West boys volleyball team, it was accepting the state championship trophy.
Fast forward nine months and the Hilltoppers found themselves right back in a postseason atmosphere Wednesday night at West Aurora.
The Blackhawks have their own postseason goals and fought the Hilltoppers from beginning to end. But Glenbard West prevailed in its season opener 25-17 and 25-23.
“We knew it was going to be an outstanding match. West Aurora didn't lose anybody. We see them in club the rest of the year and we know them,” said Hilltoppers coach Christine Giunta-Mayer. “After this we know what to fix. Our serve receive was outstanding in the first game. We had some breakdowns in the second game. If you don't have serve receive, you have nothing.”
Throughout most of the match, anything more than a 3-point lead was a rare occurrence. West Aurora's Thomas Kovanic slammed home 1 of his 9 kills to put the Blackhawks up in Game 2, 22-20.
The 6-foot-8 Kovanic and 6-6 teammate Justin Reynolds, who had 8 kills, led a powerful Blackhawks hitting attack that was a challenge to Glenbard West all evening.
The Hilltoppers' Matthew Scruggs, who with Cameron Lilly led their team in kills with 7 each, got one to pull Glenbard West to within 22-21. That returned the serve to the Hilltoppers. A West Aurora hitting error tied the game at 22. Kovanic responded with a kill to put his team back up 23-22 and the squad got the ball back.
Scruggs responded with another kill to return his team to serving. And with Zach Norvid serving, a block by Johnny Winkler and an ace by Norvid sealed the game and the match.
“This is a great group,” Giunta-Meyer said. “They are very good to each other and they are workhorses. Sometimes I have to stop them. We will have to learn this season that sometimes less is more.”
Glenbard West savored its state championship, but those who would be returning to this season's team started contemplating soon afterward what to do this spring.
“We were thinking what we needed to do to prepare for our next match. It's all about the progressive mindset,” said senior setter Paulie Bischoff, who finished with 24 assists.
West Aurora coach Tolis Koskinaris was pleased with the performance of his Blackhawks (1-1).
“I'm very proud of them. This is a fun team. We lost to the defending state champ and took them to 25-17 and 25-23,” he said. “We did all right. There were things we could do better. But we did all right.”
An 8-1 run in Game 1 sealed the deal for the Hilltoppers. Three kills by Lilly, a block by Will Church and some West Aurora hitting errors put Glenbard West up 24-16 and it didn't look back.
These two teams are likely to see each other again. Both are at Glenbard East's Springfest on April 9 and West Aurora will be going through the Glenbard West sectional.