WW South's perfect week ends with Mustang title
Wheaton Warrenville South treated this week's 7-game schedule as though it was an in-season state tournament, and the Tigers' 7-0 record for the week makes them the in-season state champions, or something like that.
The Tigers, who are actually the defending state champions, won a pair of matches over DuPage Valley Conference opponents Naperville North and West Chicago earlier in the week, and then swept the formidable competition with five more victories and the championship of this weekend's Downers Grove Mustang volleyball invitational.
In Saturday's championship game, the Tigers bounced back from a first-game 25-15 loss to defeat Sandburg 25-20, 25-21 for their first title at the Downers Grove South tournament since 2004.
"This is a satisfying win," said Wheaton South setter Joe Kelly. "Our goal for the week was seven in a row because that's what the post-season run to the state title is. The two DVC wins and the two wins in pool play in the tournament Friday were like the regional and sectional matches. And today's three wins represented the state tournament. That's how we looked at this past week."
The three tough opponents the Tigers (19-4) played Saturday were comparable to those that they'd be meeting in a real state tournament.
Barrington took them to three games before the Tigers won 25-13, 22-25, 25-20 and then conference rival Glenbard East gave them two tough games before going down 25-23, 25-23.
Those hard-fought victories may have softened the Tigers up for their opponent in the final, because the Eagles looked powerful jumping out to an 11-1 lead in Game 1, before the Tigers recovered to win the championship.
"We came out a little slow and unfocused," said Wheaton's Eric Hardek, who led the offense with 13 kills. "We wanted to prove a point in the second and third games, that we weren't going to let down. We lost to them in our third match of the season, so this win is big."
"I think there was a fallout coming from the emotion of our semifinal victory over our conference rival," said Wheaton Warrenville South coach Bill Schreier about the win over Glenbard East. "We didn't play well against Glenbard East the last time we played them and the boys just invested a lot of energy in that match. We couldn't turn it back on as quick as we needed to. Sandburg is a good team and they jumped all over us."
The Tigers also received stellar performances from Neill Nystrom, who had 9 kills, setter Kelly, who had a strong all-around game with 31 assists, 10 digs and 3 blocks, and freshman Eric Luhrsen, who made a major contribution as a reserve with 6 kills.
"In the first game we showed no emotion. We were lackadaisical," said Kelly. "We gained some fire in Game 2. And in Game 3 Hardek led us by getting where Hardek always gets. We have the experience that gives us confidence to truly believe that whatever happens, we can go out and win."
Glenbard East finished in third place with a 24-26, 25-23, 25-16 win over New Trier and Naperville North took fifth by defeating Lake Park 25-18, 14-25, 25-19.