Neuqua Valley comes together for tourney win

At the beginning of the season, the Neuqua Valley boys volleyball team was winning despite its inconsistency in many areas of the game.

This weekend the Wildcats gave every indication that they've worked through those early woes as they won all five matches to win the Benet Invitational championship for the first time.

Led by hitter-extraordinaire Rob Bauer, the Wildcats (25-2), defeated Naperville Central, Glenbard West and Morton in pool play, put away St. Francis in the semifinals and then in a rematch topped a quick Morton team 25-16, 25-16 for the championship.

Bauer had 10 kills in the semifinals, 12 in the finals and 62 for the tournament.

"This tournament was all about us jelling together," Bauer said. "Earlier in the season we would get down on ourselves, but this weekend it was all about the next point. Our passing was on fire in all five matches. I don't think we had one bad passing game in the entire tournament. Our offense, which is always solid, was even better because of our passing."

The team's upward trend puts the Wildcats in good shape as they near the postseason.

"We've been playing really well the last couple of weeks," said Wildcats coach Erich Mendoza. "Early on, our passing, defense and blocking were all missing something, and we had no continuity on the court. But we've really come together."

Mendoza had high praise for his entire team and lauded Bauer for his ability to influence a game.

"Bauer is an intimidating hitter, almost unstoppable," Mendoza said. "He had double-digit kills in every one of our matches. He's a smart hitter. He can hit over the block, hit the seam, down the line or cross-court. It's surprising, because it doesn't even look like he's really jumping. He's just long."

Tim Brackett had 8 kills in the match, 6 kills and 5 blocks against St. Francis and 38 kills for the tournament.

"Tim is one of our 'X' factors," Mendoza said. "He's a solid passer in the back row, but sometimes you don't even notice him. His passes are right on every time. He could even be our libero. But people forget he's an outside hitter, and he's getting kills when the opponents key on Baker or Menendez."

Derek Menendez, who led the powerful Neuqua Valley block, had 8 blocks in the finals and 24 in the tournament.

"Morton was very fast," Menendez said. "Our goal was to keep up the momentum we built against St. Francis by getting our block up there fast and getting the ball back."

Kevin Begley with 13 digs and Alex Onsager with 25 assists also had big games for the Wildcats.

The Mustangs, who took Neuqua Valley to three games before losing in pool play, were the surprise team of the tournament.

"I don't think a lot of teams realized how fast we were," said Morton coach Tony Hornilla. "Some teams didn't seem ready for us. The guys played really hard and fast. Neuqua Valley has great outsides and middles and they hustle for the ball."

Jon Hernandez led the Mustangs with 9 kills in the finals.

St. Francis beat Mundelein 31-29, 25-13 for third place.

Dan McGuire and Joe Mordell had 8 kills apiece for the Spartans.