Glenbard West reaches state semifinals

The juniors on the Glenbard West volleyball team had to take final exams early Friday. The seniors had to make it to their high school graduation in the evening, and somewhere in between the Hilltoppers had to play the most important volleyball match of their lives.

Considering the timing and the circumstances, Glenbard West did well to come away with a win over St. Rita 25-21, 17-25, 25-20 in the quarterfinals of the state tournament at Hoffman Estates High School.

The victory advances the Hilltoppers to Saturday’s semi-finals against Sandburg.

Glenbard West’s junior outside hitter Ian Lawson had a spectacular day with 23 kills.

“We had some nervousness today because this is the first time we’ve been to state,” said Christine Giunta, whose team is in only its sixth season as a varsity program. “And, not to make excuses, the kids had a lot on their minds. But we won and we’re in the final four.”

The Hilltoppers (29-6) led almost the entire Game 1, twice by as many as 7 points.

But they seemed to lose the plot a little in an error-filled Game 2 as St. Rita outside hitters Bobby Gallagher and Joe Biros consistently landed kills on the Glenbard West side of the net.

“Our defense seemed to take a step backward in the second game,” said Hilltoppers setter Alex Emanuel. “That scared us a little at first, but then we realized that this could be the seniors’ last game and we’re a better team than this. So we all stepped up in the third game.”

Lawson, who was effective in Games 1 and 2, became unstoppable in the rubber game, scoring on 11 kills.

“Our passing and setting were good and the ball kept coming to me,” Lawson said. “So I was putting it down.”

The Hilltoppers led most through most of the game, but St. Rita (22-18) grabbed the lead briefly at 10-9.

Glenbard West retook the advantage and held a narrow lead until the Mustangs tied it at 20-20.

Then Lawson hit his biggest kill of the night down the line on the left, which was followed by an Adam Lepold block.

Those two plays seemed to rattle St. Rita, which then committed three straight errors to give the Hilltoppers the win.

“We were relaxed in Game 2 and that’s why we won big,” Gallagher said. “But when one or two things go wrong like they did at the end of the third game, people start to freak out and it just escalates. When it was 20-20 we got timid because nobody wanted to make a mistake.”

Gallagher finished with 17 kills, and Biros added 10 for St. Rita. John Johnson led the Mustangs with 13 digs.

“We’re a faster team than we showed here today,” said Glenbard West’s Giunta. “And we had high passes, which we never do. However, I’m proud that we worked through it in the third game.”

Lepold had 8 kills for the Hilltoppers, Emanuel distributed 21 assists and Kevin McGinnis came up with a team-high 10 digs.

“It’s a great feeling getting here to the semifinals at state,” said Glenbard West’s Scottie Thomas. “We knew we had a good team and we’ve been working hard for this all season. If we continue to work together tomorrow I think we can.”