Smith keys WW South victory
Nick Smith at 5-foot-11 is listed as the shortest man on the Wheaton Warrenville South volleyball team.
But the senior outside hitter played as though he were 10 feet tall on Friday as he pulled the Tigers out of a sluggish start in the state quarterfinals and led them to a 25-15, 25-11 win over Payton, which preserved WW South’s undefeated record at 40-0 and sent the Tigers to today’s semifinal against Barrington at Hoffman Estates High School.
Smith, fourth on the team in kills for the season, led the Tigers with 8 kills on Friday, but it was when he stepped up that was a key factor in the match.
The Grizzlies (29-11) were sticking with the powerful Tigers early in the game and still had them dead even at 11-11.
That first game would have been a lot closer were it not for Smith, who had five of his kills and a block when the game was still being contested.
“Usually Smith is playing defense and I’m the one swinging,” said Thomas Jaeschke, usually the team’s leading scorer who had 7 kills in the match. “But I was happy just sitting in the back row, getting some digs and watching him do all the hard work. We started slowly and he was the sparkplug who really got us going.”
“I’m usually there for the passing and defense and to help the big guys out,” Smith said. “But when they’re feeling down, I like to come in and get a good block or kill.”
Coach Bill Schreier thought the team may have had a small letdown after the challenging sectional matches in the past week against Downers Grove North and Glenbard East.
“We weren’t playing as fundamentally sound as we should,” Schreier said. “We weren’t able to run our middles nearly as strong as we wanted to and that made us predictable and easy to defend. We were a little complacent, and that won’t happen tomorrow.”
Once the Tigers calmed down, they pulled away in Game 1 and continued their dominance in the second game.
They pulled out to a 10-4 led and then Smith put down a kill and a block that started a 10-pint run with Dan Eastman at the service line that put the game and the match out of reach.
“It was about time,” Schreier said. “Our nerves settled a little and we were starting to play.”
Tim Zyburt came through with 6 kills and 3 blocks for the Tigers.
“We were aware that we were playing the No 1 team in the nation,” said Payton coach Casey Feeney. “But we decided to come out with intensity and have fun. And we were right there with them in the first half of the first game. They’re big, athletic and they move well. And they don’t make many mistakes. We rode our energy as far as we could and kept up with them. And then when they started playing their game, that energy just fell off a cliff.”
Hans Friedl led the Grizzlies with 6 kills.