Neuqua Valley takes Streamwood crown

The Neuqua Valley boys volleyball team had a simple of goal of improving its finish in each of the four tournaments this season.

After finishing one place higher at Glenbard East to finish third earlier this season, the Wildcats did the same Saturday, winning the Sabre Invitational at Streamwood by beating Leyden in the championship match, 25-23, 25-14.

“Last year we didn’t win any of the tournaments we were in,” Wildcats coach Erich Mendoza said. “It’s definitely a step in the right direction.”

Neuqua Valley (13-3) went 3-0 in Pool A play, including a 25-17, 27-26 victory over Leyden. The Wildcats then beat St. Francis, which beat them in the title match last season, in the semifinals, 25-14, 25-15.

“St. Francis beat us every time they played us last year and that was one team we were really gunning for,” Neuqua Valley’s Jon Storm said. “When we played them in the semifinals we came out with more energy than I’ve seen in a while.”

Neuqua opened a 14-9 lead in the first game of the title match after going on a 5-0 run started on a kill from Storm. Leyden (6-7) rallied to tie the game at 19-19 with a 6-0 run on its own. Three of the points came on kills from George Boykov, who finished with 11 kills in the match. The game was tied at 23-23 before a Storm kill and a Leyden lift gave Neuqua the Game 1 victory.

The Wildcats led 6-5 before dominating the remainder of the second game, scoring 19 of the final 28 points.

“We played well,” Leyden coach Dave Sebald said. “We’re a team that’s coming together with a lot of inexperience. We played a very experienced team.”

Strom finished with 11 kills in the championship match for Neuqua. Jake Gerald added five kills and Alex Blackwell had 22 assists.

In the third-place match, St. Francis rallied from a 17-12 deficit in the third game against Wheeling, which had beaten the Spartans in three games in Pool B play earlier in the day, for a 20-25, 25-21, 26-24 victory. Blocks from Tim Olsen and Brendan Roberts on the final two points gave St. Francis the victory.

Jack Mordell led the Spartans (12-3) with 7 kills and 13 assists in the third-place match. Ryan Hanrahan added 6 kills and Joey Trunk added five.

“We’ve been sick all week and have injuries,” said St. Francis coach Mike Lynch, who also lost his starting libero against Wheeling in pool-play action. “A few of our setters have had the flu the last few days. We’re dragging right now. Considering that, some young kids stepped up and did a really good job for us.”

Bartlett, which went 3-2 on the day, beat Wheaton Academy, 25-17, 25-22, in the fifth-place match. The host Sabres beat Elgin, 25-22, 25-21, in the seventh-place match.