Boys volleyball: Conant edges St. Francis to win own tourney

After getting this spring campaign off to a 3-0 start, Conant's boys volleyball team entered into a nine-day layoff where it didn't play another game until their own eight-team Invitational Saturday.

Once the final point was scored they laid to rest any doubts of having collected any rust as the Cougars went 5-0 to keep the tourney title at home on their Hoffman Estates campus.

Conant topped off the day with an exciting 25-16, 11-25, 15-13 victory over St. Francis in the championship match before a near-capacity crowd at Perry Gym to move their mark to 8-0 on the season.

"These early tournaments are really all about getting in there and knowing we like to be challenged and kind of figuring things out early on the season to prepare us for (MSL West Division play),“ Conant coach Drewann Reibel said. ”I thought the boys did a much better job towards the end there (by) taking control. We have some good hitters out there that are able to get some good swings and we passed the ball well."

The Cougars responded to those challenges with flying colors as they swept through their red pool opponents Lakes (2-1), Lemont (2-0) and Buffalo Grove (2-0) to advance to a semifinal date with red pool runner-up Maine West.

Conant continued its success with a 25-15, 25-21 victory to earn its championship match ticket where the Cougars faced the red pool titlist Spartans. St. Francis had swept its way past Lakes in 25-16 and 25-14 decisions after it pitched a 3-0 pool cleaning where it beat Proviso East and Taft in addition to the Warriors.

In Game 1, Conant shook off a 9-9 tie by outscoring the Spartans 16-7 the rest of the contest as junior middle hitter Victor Chrobak's three kills in the decisive surge led the way.

However, St. Francis (4-2) recovered to take Game 2 as it bolted to an early 10-1 advantage before the host school went on a 5-0 tear. Conant was led by a trio of aces from senior middle hitter Nick Gutka to get within 10-6 before the Spartans went on a decisive 15-5 run to force a third game that featured a pair of aces by senior defensive specialist Chris Rojas.

The Spartans used that game-winning finish to spark a 5-0 start in the decisive third game led by a pair of kills by senior Michael Globe. Conant then pulled even by going on an 8-3 tear thanks to senior setter Alex Urbanczyk's two kills, an ace and an assist.

With the score knotted at 10 senior outside hitter Maciej Kopacz took over for the Cougars with a pair of kills plus an emphatic repudiation of a Spartans volley that gave Conant the game, match and title.

Kopacz credited his teammates’ return to basics that got them going once again.

"We increased our passing. It way better. We started communicating with each other,“ Kopacz said. ”We used our middle (hitters). (That) was a big part. I feel like at the end we really came together as a team. You just got to keep going. Never stop because you never know.“