Boys volleyball: Maine West takes control of CSL North race
By the time the clock hit 7 p.m. in Maine West's Rider Gym Monday, the Central Suburban boys volleyball race would begin to take shape as round two play began with the first-place Warriors hosting Niles West.
The two clubs had met just three weeks before at the Wolves home den in Skokie where Maine West made the 7.4 mile trek back home to their Des Plaines campus having survived a three-game ordeal.
"We had to battle for every point in that match," Warriors coach Mike OBrill recalled prior to guiding his players in a pregame ceremony honoring school staff members.
And true to form when the clock did hit 7 both teams would be once again engaged in a deciding game three to determine their CSL North match.
A match which like their first meeting went once again to the Warriors who prevailed 20-25, 25-14, and 25-23 to establish a two-game lead in the division at 6-0 (25-4 overall) over the visiting Wolves (15-7, 4-2).
More over, that 25th victory tied the program's single-season record for wins with the 2022 team (25-12).
Plus, seventh-year mentor OBrill became the school's all-time wins leader netting his 142nd win surpassing Maureen Moeller's 141 during her 14-season tenure (1996-2009).
"We've been down in these situations where we've been down a few points in the last set, but these guys have been so resilient all year," OBrill said after having been mobbed by his players in the postgame celebration.
"We just keep grinding and it keeps making us grow as a team."
The Warriors needed that growth after dropping the opening game to the Wolves. Dillawar Chaudhry's fifth kill of the set launched the decisive 6-2 run to snare a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Warriors got their spurt in set number two when they used an early 8-2 start to establish game control. A pair of kills from third-year lettermen Luis Alvarez-Perez allowed the home team to never look back and even the match as Niles West never got closer than 17-13 on junior middle hitter Dorian Silo's third kill of the game prior to a game-sealing 8-1 tear.
The deciding set saw the Warriors nab the lead for good with an 8-2 surge that gave them a 19-15 advantage on a kill by senior setter Peter Dempsey.
Then it would be Alvarez-Perez taking center stage with three straight kills that brought victory home for the Warriors.
It's something that he credits his coach for that has their team successful.
"Even if we do lose a set, you’ve got to come back and bounce back. It's a match point mentality that's getting us there," Alvarez-Perez said.
"Out of the 4 matches we've lost we've learned from them a lot which is shown in our record. No matter where we go, we always play to (game) completion and never get satisfied until the game is over."