Second time the charm for Waubonsie Valley
Waubonsie Valley boys volleyball coach Al Lagger was undaunted by his team’s loss to Benet in the first match of pool play at the Benet Invitational on Friday.
“I told the guys we were going to win the next three matches and see them again in the finals,” Lagger said. “I knew if we got there it was ours.”
And it was theirs, but not without as stiff challenge by the hosts.
The Warriors (22-5) won the rematch Saturday 25-22, 16-25, 25-23 to win the championship of the seven-year old tournament for the first time. Waubonsie’s Michael Simmons, who had a team-high 15 kills in the title match, was the tournament’s MVP.
Glenbard West defeated Neuqua Valley to take third place.
“This is mostly a young team with some senior leadership,” Lagger said about the Warriors. “Everyone understands his role and they all do their jobs to the best of their ability.”
“We can beat anyone,” Simmons said. “If we play together like we did today we can win the state championship.”
After splitting the first two sets Saturday, the Warriors led set three early before they were caught by Benet at 14-14.
The Redwings built a 20-17 lead, but the Warriors recovered in time to produce an exciting run of offense, led by Mike Storm’s four kills, to win the deciding set 25-23.
“At the end of that third game, we started to pass well and we played together as a team,” said setter Luke Furman, who distributed 45 assists and was also named to the all-tournament team. “We got the ball where it needed to go and we got the kills. We practice coming from behind and never giving up. We’re going to push to the end.”
Storm added 14 kills and 3 blocks and Jon Pyne had 8 kills.
“This is amazing,” Storm said. “I’m a senior and I’ve never won a tournament. We came together after losing that second set. And then we fought back after falling behind, grabbed the momentum and came out with a win. Simmons, who was a setter last year, is doing great as an outside hitter, and Luke is still the amazing setter he’s always been. We’re getting the passes to him and that’s helping all the hitters.”
Both teams finished the tournament with 4-1 records, and they both stand at 22-5 going into the final weeks of the regular season.
Benet was led by their big-time outside hitters Luke Ladwoski, who had 19 kills and 7 digs, and Bobby Wehrli, who had 15 kills and 7 digs. Kevin Weithers was the dig leader with 18, and Pat Dougherty had 39 assists.
“I’m proud of how hard we worked,” said Benet coach Amy Van Eekeren. “We were down in the semifinal match and we fought back, and we kept fighting in the finals. We‘ve come a long way since the beginning of the season. I give Waubonsie Valley credit for an outstanding tournament. At the end they made some smart plays. They were phenomenal.”