Boys volleyball: Glenbard West sweeps O’Fallon, returns to state semifinals; Lake Park falls
Lukas Wallin did not turn green Friday morning in Bolingbrook.
But after the Glenbard West sophomore crushed the final kill of the opening set, he briefly looked like somebody who could bench-press a Buick.
Chest tightened. Arms flexed. Incredible Hulk-roar unleashed.
Volleyball momentum had found a body.
And once the Hilltoppers grabbed it, O’Fallon spent the rest of the morning chasing it.
Glenbard West — one of Illinois’ gold-standard programs for two decades under coach Christine Giunta-Mayer — steadied itself after a jittery start, cleaned up its passing and rode a balanced, sophomore-heavy attack to a 25-19, 25-19 victory over O’Fallon in a boys volleyball state quarterfinal.
Now the Hilltoppers (37-2), winners of 24 straight matches, move on to face Libertyville (32-3) in a state semifinal at 10 a.m. Saturday.
“We focused on passing,” Glenbard West sophomore outside hitter Christian Cudzilo said. “Got off to a pretty slow start with our errors.”
Not for long.
The Panthers (32-3-1) led 10-8 in the first set behind the thunderous swings of senior outside hitter Elijah Zambrencia, a Lewis commit who finished with a match-high 11 kills and 2 aces.
But Giunta-Mayer sensed what her team needed.
“We just needed a stop — a dig,” said Giunta-Mayer, who improved her 20-year record to 642-144 and is seeking a sixth state title at Glenbard West. “Before that, it had been kill, kill, kill, kill. We needed a stop, and we got one.
“We had to play clean volleyball.”
The Hilltoppers responded with exactly that.
Sophomore reserve Tommy Clifford helped change the set’s rhythm entirely. His kills pushed Glenbard West ahead 16-14, 17-15, 18-16 and 19-17 during a pivotal stretch that steadily tilted the court Hilltoppers green/white.
“I’m a hype man,” Clifford said. “I hope, when I’m in there, I get up and everyone else does, too.”
He did.
So did everybody else.
Cudzilo followed with a block for a 22-18 lead, and Wallin’s emphatic set-ending blast moments later sent the Hilltoppers into their celebration pose and into full control of the match.
Wallin finished with 8 kills and a dazzling .727 hitting percentage. Cudzilo added 8 kills and 5 digs, Clifford totaled 6 kills, sophomore setter JJ Iarrobino distributed 14 assists and senior setter Andrew Fanella added 11 assists.
Senior libero Carter Long contributed 2 aces.
Depth matters with this group. Calm does, too.
“This team doesn’t get down, doesn’t get angry,” Giunta-Mayer said. “They have a great way about them, the way they stay calm.”
The Hilltoppers showed it again early in the second set.
Cudzilo hammered 4 kills as Glenbard West built an 8-4 lead, and Clifford later delivered another key kill for a 20-12 advantage.
Still, O’Fallon kept swinging.
The Panthers rattled off 4 straight points late and trimmed the deficit to 21-18 behind the play of Zambrencia, junior setter Blake Keller and junior hitter Sutton Massey.
Keller finished with 18 assists. Massey added 6 kills and 3 digs. Senior outside hitter Nathan McBride contributed 5 kills, while senior libero Niyam Patel collected 4 digs.
“Our expectations this weekend? To win,” O’Fallon coach Amy Sheehan said. “We wanted to leave having no what-ifs, no regrets.
“We competed, even when we were down 20-12 in the second set. Nobody thought we’d get back in it. But we did. We fought for every point, like we had all season.”
That fight kept the Panthers alive.
Glenbard West’s balance finished the job.
Oak Park d. Lake Park: For the second straight season, Lake Park's season ended in the state quarterfinals, this time with a 25-10, 25-20 loss Friday afternoon in the third state quarterfinal at Bolingbrook.
Lake Park (27-14), who lost to Marist in last year's quarterfinals, fell behind early in the first set and never recovered.
The Lancers pulled within 12-11 in the second set when Jake Ellenbecker set Nolan Cocat for a kill before an Oak Park attack error.
The Huskies surged again, building leads of 22-13 and 24-15. Lake Park made one last run, fending off five match points. Cocat had two kills and Ellenbecker another before the Huskies finally ended the match on Matthew Proskey's kill.
Cocat led Lake Park with 6 kills, Ethan Schnabel had 5 and Eric Gerber 3. Gerber and Mark Randazzo finished with 6 digs.
Oak Park-River Forest (32-4), who will play Marist in the second semifinal Saturday morning at Bolingbrook, was led by Jimmie Chrusfield with 13 kills.