West Aurora repeats tourney title
The more West Aurora’s boys volleyball team found its back against the wall Saturday at its own invitational, the better the Blackhawks played.
It started in the semifinals with West Aurora trailing Metea Valley 24-22 only to see Joe Frommert come up with three straight stuff blocks to propel the Blackhawks into the championship match.
St. Charles North was waiting for the Blackhawks, and in Game 1 the North Stars had five game points. West Aurora fought off each and every one to pull out a 32-30 victory.
After the North Stars evened the match with a Game 2 win, they put the Blackhawks on the ropes taking a 24-22 lead in Game 3. Again West Aurora was up to the challenge fighting off three match points to win Game 3 and pull out a wild 32-30, 18-25, 27-25 victory to win their own tournament for the second consecutive year.
“We just go as hard as we can,” said Eric Roggeman who led the Blackhawks with 7 kills in Game 3. “We give everything we can.”
If one point summed up the way West Aurora stayed alive against all odds it came with the North Stars leading 24-23 in Game 3.
Branden Hoerner had just taken the North Stars to match point with a cross-court kill. The North Stars went back to Hoerner time and time again on match point and each time West Aurora had either the block or dig to keep the point going.
When David Vasquez hit a ball off the North Stars block that landed barely out, the Blackhawks had tied the match 24-24.
“I don’t even know what that was,” West Aurora coach Tolis Koskinaris said. “That was unbelievable. We knew where the ball was going. No. 12 (Hoerner) on their team is a really, really strong player. We got him. It’s crazy stuff what you saw there.”
“We blocked that guy like 15 times,” Roggeman said. “That was crazy. We were fighting so long all day, coming back, coming back, we couldn’t lose there.”
St. Charles North (5-2) had one more match point but a Vasquez kill erased that. After another Vasquez kill put the Blackhawks up 26-25, the match ended when the North Stars were called for being in the net.
“I think there’s additional pressure the guys put on themselves sometimes,” North Stars coach Todd Weimer said. “Whether the score is 24-16 or 24-23 you have to play the same way. You can’t put the extra stress on yourself. It’s a good lesson for us early in the season. I know the guys had their goal was to win the tournament. We got to the finals and had it within our grasp.”
Game 1 was even more wild. West Aurora trailed 23-19 but pulled even at 24 on a North Star passing error. From that point until the Blackhawks eventually pulled out the 32-30 win the teams combined to miss five serves, and St. Charles North let 5 game points get away before West Aurora finally won on its third game point on a North Stars hitting error.
“I really thought we should have had Game 1,” Weimer said. “Cleary in Game 2 we responded very well.”
The North Stars opened the tournament by beating St. Viator and Wheeling in 2 games in pool play and then they also defeated Glenbard North in 2 in the semifinals.
Weimer was pleased with the balanced contributions from his lineup and thought his team was deeper than most of the field.
“Branden Hoerner pulled through, our setter Pat Misiewicz is in his first year, he’s learning and getting better, Josh Shaw, our tall right side, I thought he did very well,” Weimer said. “Our libero Ryan Dal Degan, he’s doing a nice job. Our other outside Jonny Orech, he played really well. Our middle Ryan Staudacher, third year on varsity, those guys played really well all day.
“Looking at the other teams they have one or two good guys. We have a good balance, a good mix. I was surprised how much more versatile we are.”
West Aurora (3-1-1) split with Oswego in pool play. The Blackhawks were led on the day by Roggeman (53 kills), Vasquez (32 kills), James McGrath (15 blocks) and Frommert (25 kills).
The Blackhawks hope to take some momentum from their repeat championship heading into DuPage Valley Conference play next week.
“We play in a conference that is a bloodbath,” Koskinaris said. “It’s a nice way to start the year. On Tuesday we have to go to Wheaton Warrenville South. We do what we can. We enjoy these tournaments, It’s a good way to start.”