Boys volleyball: Alumni watch Glenbard West clinch another Silver championship
Glenbard West 6-foot-8 senior J.T. Ardell has grown accustomed to big and enthusiastic home crowds for his boys volleyball matches at Biester Gymnasium.
Along the top row for Tuesday's home finale against Lyons Township sat a large group of former players, many of whom contributed to the Hilltoppers' current streak of three consecutive state championships.
"We just saw them in the crowd before the game so we knew they were here," Ardell said. "I think it helps a lot. It's nice to have friends in the stands. It keeps us relaxed."
The result was more of the same.
The Hilltoppers prevailed 25-10, 25-14 in Glen Ellyn to complete their fifth straight 6-0 run through the West Suburban Silver for their sixth conference championship in seven seasons. The Hilltoppers (31-3) also have won 30 matches five straight seasons and seven of the last eight.
Pepperdine recruit Ardell and junior Connor Williams each had 7 kills and juniors Ryan Swartz and Stone Metz 6 each. Junior Henry Curtis had 30 assists and junior libero Zack Morris and sophomore Ben Harrington each had 7 digs. Ardell added 4 blocks.
Afterward, the players and alumni shared hugs, laughs and pizza in the foyer.
"It's really cool because my whole class grew up at West watching them play on varsity, and they were the superstars," Williams said. "Now watching them come back and watch us in their shoes is really cool."
The Hilltoppers are the No. 1 seed in the Addison Trail sectional and begin next week's playoffs in the Geneva regional. Their regular-season finale is Thursday at St. Charles North, the sectional's No. 5 seed.
Over the last four seasons, they have lost only six matches. Ardell never lost a home match in three varsity seasons and his 2014 freshman season with the sophomores, a combined 32-0 record.
"We just treat Biester as utmost importance like you need to defend your home. We don't take it for granted and we play the best we can and enjoy it," Glenbard West coach Christine Giunta-Mayer said. "I think they came out and truly enjoyed other, realizing this will be the last time the team will be together in this gym with an opponent."
For the match Glenbard West had 28 kills with 6 attack errors. Eight straight points served by Morris opened an 18-5 lead in the first set. Metz's five straight points created a 12-4 cushion in the second set, which also included 6 Ardell kills.
"Just in general, we're jelling more, just our chemistry has improved a lot on the court. I feel more relaxed with the guys around me on the court," Ardell said.
Senior Sean Ryan, a 6-5 Ohio State recruit, had 7 of the 9 kills by the Lions (10-22, 1-5) with 2 aces and 4 service points.
Coach Joann Pyritz, Lyons Twp.'s only boys head coach and longtime girls head coach, also knows about perennial success in the sport. She's coached the girls to two state titles and a second-place finish and the boys to four top-four finishes.
"Christine's done a super job. Obviously, you can't argue with multiple state championships in a row and so many dominant players," Pyritz said. "And after a state title or close to a state title, it's the snowball effect. Everybody knows that's the expectation now. So then kids improve, want to be better year to year and everybody buys in."
With a younger lineup in which Ardell and Metz are the only senior regulars, the Hilltoppers again appear to be peaking at the right time. The May 5 two-set loss to Barrington in the Northside Classic semifinals at Glenbrook North was an important postseason reminder.
"(We learned) pretty much that we can't let that ever happen again. We know what went wrong and we're working on fixing it," Williams said. "We're very clearly getting better in practice. We're trying a lot harder, more mentally driven I think to get better after the loss to Barrington."
"We've had a lot of growing pains, but in the end we're getting through it. Right now they're playing some of their best ball," Giunta-Mayer said.
"All three of our losses we've learned something different. I feel like we have the right mind frame right now. It's OK to lose - in the regular season - as long as you fix what you can control and we can control everything we did when we lost."