Boys volleyball: Lake Park gets hot at right time, downs Hersey to punch its ticket to state
Both Hersey and Lake Park's boys volleyball teams went through peaks and valleys this spring en route to their sectional final bout Tuesday evening at Schaumburg.
Laura Gerber's Huskies had losing streaks of four and five games after a 7-2 beginning to its season while Brian Fischer's Lancers had dropped 6 of their last 10 at the end of the regular season after having started 20-5.
However both clubs got themselves in gear just as the postseason started and they found themselves one win away from the round of eight.
After dropping the first set to Hersey 25-23, Lake Park was able to get a needed tuneup just in time to drive past the Huskies with wins of 25-17 and 25-13 to earn that berth and a ticket to Friday's 1 p.m. state quarterfinal vs. Marist at Hoffman Estates High School.
Marist (35-2) beat another Chicago Catholic school, Mt. Carmel (16-11), at the DeLaSalle sectional Tuesday afternoon.
"It was a rough last couple of weeks but me and the other starting seniors (outside hitters Dylan Roszak and Carter Gibbons, and middle hitter Michael Ogorzalek) with it being our last go-round we decided it was now or never. And with the postseason starting up we hit the gas pedal hard," Lancers senior Libero Luke Bonacci said.
"It had to be now because otherwise we would be done and we figured it out."
Lake Park (28-11) started to do just that as it used a 10-3 run to separate themselves from Hersey in the second set. Ogorzalek had 3 of his 8 kills while Roszak added a pair from his contest total of 7.
Then in the decisive third set, Bonanno connected with 3 of his game-high 5 aces including back to back successful serves that helped the Lancers obtain game control. They never trailed after the opening serve of the set.
Lake Park erased any further doubts by going on a 12-2 tear that featured 3 of Gibbons' game-high 9 kills along with a pair of huge blocks from 6-foot-10 junior middle hitter Nolan Cocat that put them safely up 19-9. The Lancers secured match point on an illegal touch by the Huskies soon afterward.
Fischer spoke of his squad's successful response to a pre-playoff talk he gave them.
"I've been telling (them) why not now,“ Fischer said. ”There's no better time than now. We've had conversations with them in terms of owning the moment. This is your season. What are you going to make of it? What's going to be your memory that you leave this program? The guys have really taken it to heart and have played really well."
Sophomore opposite hitter Kieran Daly's 6 kills and 1 block paced the Hersey effort while senior outside hitter Dylan Stupin added 5 kills and an ace. Hersey wrapped up its season at 23-17.
Despite the defeat Gerber couldn't speak more highly of the squad and their playoff performance.
"I'm just so proud of the way they played this year and finished the season,“ Gerber said. ”Won a regional, won a sectional semifinal and I thought they did a fantastic job. Not disappointed in the least. They're a really great group of kids."