Boys volleyball: West Aurora gets past Waubonsie Valley
After dropping the opening set, West Aurora's boys volleyball players held an impromptu team meeting in the hallway concourse.
"We basically just said that we needed to calm down and focus on no more errors," said Blackhawks senior right-side Vinnie Mannella. "We had a lot of errors in the first set. We needed to really pick up the pace and make sure we put the ball in the court."
Mission accomplished.
Playing on their home court, the Blackhawks responded from the 25-17 first-set loss to claim the final two sets by identical 25-14 scores during Tuesday night's regional semifinal victory over Waubonsie Valley (12-24).
"We've never been there before - we've never won with this group so we're all nervous and we're all anxious," said Blackhawks coach Tolis Koskinaris, whose team established a single-season school record with its 28th win (28-7).
"I was kind of expecting a slow start but we came back and did OK."
West Aurora aims for its first regional title since 2005 against Naperville Central on Wednesday. The Redhawks outlasted St. Francis, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23, in Tuesday's other semifinal match.
Fresh from its quarterfinal triumph over Metea Valley on Monday, 20th-seeded Waubonsie Valley took charge in the opening set with seniors Levi Jordan and Matt Canty leading the way.
"We came out and played exactly the way I hoped," said Warriors coach Noel Soto. "They had energy and the passing was point on."
Meanwhile, the Blackhawks were forced to regroup.
"I think we were playing more serious and tight instead of loose," said 6-foot-8 senior outside hitter Thomas Kovanic. "We were all playing as individuals - me especially. I was starting to get in my own head."
West Aurora grabbed a 10-5 lead in the second set before Waubonsie scored 5 of the next 7 points, fueled by an ace from Chris Breuer, to close the gap to 12-10.
From there, the Blackhawks exploded with a 9-1 run that featured a precisely placed ace from Tyler Long (3 kills, 2 aces) and blocks from Tommy Garcia (24 assists, 5 digs, 2 blocks) and Manny Chaidez (5 kills, 3 aces, 2 blocks).
"It's very frustrating when you're giving it your best attack and it doesn't even penetrate the net," said Koskinaris. "It's an extremely frustrating feeling for a hitter and it's very demoralizing to the other team to put up that many blocks.
"Almost any team - if you block well, you're going to do well. It's like good pitching in baseball. It's easy to play defense behind a great block."
After recording 3 kills in the second set, the Loyola-bound Kovanic (8 kills) continued his surge in the third set, recording 3 of his match-high 5 aces on powerful jump serves.
"I think Thomas changed the game in the second set when he started hitting in instead of trying to hit through people," said Koskinaris. "He made a mental adjustment and it charged the match for the whole team."
Jordan led the Warriors with 9 kills while Canty added 4 kills and 4 aces.
"We had some tough times this season but nobody ever quit," said Soto. "I'm very, very proud of them."