Boys volleyball: Timothy Christian's playoff debut a thriller

Senior Hunter Bailey had a feeling that this first Timothy Christian boys volleyball varsity team would be pretty talented.

After Monday there's certainly no arguing the Trojans' desire.

In their state tournament debut the Trojans pulled off a comeback for the ages. They outlasted Marmion 27-25, 22-25, 26-24 at the Bolingbrook regional after trailing 23-18 in the third set - and fighting off match point at 24-23.

"I'm super happy right now - the first regional victory for a first-year program so I'm super stoked," Bailey said.

"It's absolutely crazy. In that third set we were kind of down. Once they got that huge lead, it was like, 'Aw, I don't know if we can win this,' but we just had to buckle down and do our jobs individually."

Timothy (19-4), the No. 18 seed in the Hinsdale South sectional, plays No. 2-seed and defending state runner-up Neuqua Valley in Tuesday's 5:30 p.m. regional semifinal.

A third-year varsity program, No. 15 Marmion (19-13) was seeking its first postseason victory.

On May 3 Timothy coach Scott Piersma was excited when junior Kyle Teune served out a two-set home victory over Illiana Christian with eight consecutive points to erase a 23-17 deficit.

Teune served the final two points Monday, giving Timothy its first lead of the set from a 17-9 hole.

"I said (after Illiana) I had never been part of something like that, but then this third set. It should have been over, but (our players) found another gear. They dug down and found whatever was necessary to keep it going," Piersma said.

"That was some guts. That was some heart, whatever you want to call it. Kudos to them for being able to do that. That's really impressive."

Also impressive were the offensive showings by Sports Performance club players Teune with 21 kills and Bailey with 16.

Marmion seniors John Roche and Christian Damico had 12 and 9 kills, respectively, and senior setter Zachary Minnis 25 assists.

Teune was in the thick of the Trojans' comeback.

On four consecutive points Teune contributed a kill, solo block, block assist with sophomore Ryan DeBoer and another kill. When Marmion could not return the ball on the next point, the set was tied at 23.

A kill by junior John Demos gave the Cadets match point, but Teune had another kill on serve receive and then went back to serve. Timothy's final two points came on a Bailey kill followed by Teune's third ace to end it.

"It's great. It's so fun just getting out there, knowing you can get a kill, getting blocks for your team," Teune said. "It's our first regional. I want to win. I didn't let go. I kept telling everyone, 'Let's go. Let's go. Keep the energy up. We've got this.' It was so fun."

Timothy won the first set in similar fashion after facing set point at 25-24. Following a missed serve, DeBoer served two straight points with Bailey providing a kill off a serve-receive error and a solo block for set point.

Marmion took the second set after Timothy came back for a 21-21 tie with the last two points on a service error and senior Jacob Bettag's kill for set point.

The Cadets achieved their best season and first conference title. They were a perfect 9-0 in the Chicago Catholic League White by sweeping all three-game series with Montini, St. Joseph and DePaul Prep.

"It was (hard tonight) mainly because we had our lead and to lose that, to lose the momentum is always difficult," Marmion coach Barb Ebert said.

"I told them they can mourn this loss for about 30 minutes and then I want them to focus on the season because honestly I cannot be more proud of them for the season they've had, the team they've been and the team they are."

Piersma believes the Trojans are the team they are because of a 10-match JV schedule in 2018 that included most of this season's starters. The Trojans have won eight straight en route to an undefeated Metro Suburban Conference Red Division title.

"I knew we'd have a solid season after the first few games," Bailey said.

"If we had to teach them the whole game this year, this never would have happened. They put in the time last year learning," Piersma said. "Obviously, the studs are Kyle and Hunter right now, but the other guys do their jobs so well like they're supposed to."

Marmion graduates five seniors, including three-year varsity players Roche, Damico and Bettag. Monday was the Cadets' first playoff game as the higher seed.

"These boys have built (our program). We went from (2017 sectional seed) No. 26 to No. 20 to No. 15," Ebert said.

"Honestly, the season was going to end at some point. Sorry it was tonight, but I'll never have a negative thought of the season at all. It's been my privilege to have a front-row seat all season."