Titans hit their stride too late vs. Brook

IMSA's Brent Noesges (left) knocks the ball over the net during a match against Bolingbrook on Tuesday.
(Terence Guider-Shaw/For The Beacon News)

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IMSA's boys volleyball team made quite a comeback attempt in Tuesday's nonconference match against Bolingbrook.

But the Titans got into the flow a little too late in Game 2 to force a third game, dropping their fourth match in a row, 25-18, 29-27.

Bolingbrook, winning its first match all season after starting with six losses, held a 22-14 lead in Game 2 before the Titans roared back, serving set point up 27-26 before Bolingbrook finally got the win.

"It was invigorating," IMSA outside hitter Henry Liang said of the comeback. "Clearly, we can play that way, we just need to get into it faster. We just need to stay focused and play smarter."

Titans setter Roy Fisher got the comeback started with a pair of kills. A kill from Brent Noesges tied Game 2 at 23 as IMSA (1-6) fought back with a 9-1 run to tie the game. A kill from Liang and an error set up IMSA up with set point at 27-26, but Raiders hitter Tony Young racked up a kill and then ended the match with another.

"I was happy to see them make a comeback run, but we should never be in that position, not against a team that's evenly matched with us," IMSA coach Allison Miner said. "The positives are that they were mentally tough enough to get back into the game. They picked themselves up after they fell down. They made some smart choices with ball placement."

Bolingbrook helped IMSA jump out to an 8-3 lead in Game 1 with six errors, including five in a row. But the Titans were unable to take full advantage, watching the lead evaporate quickly as Bolingbrook went on a 10-2 run to take a 13-10 lead.

"That's something we've been struggling with," Bolingbrook coach Andrea Bercot said of the early errors. "It was nice to see them feed off of good plays and were able to come back."

Bolingbrook eventually pushed the lead to 22-13 before fending off a mild IMSA rally for a 25-18 win.

"We just weren't in the game in Game 1," IMSA libero Adam Leemans said. "We gave them the favor back by making a few dumb mistakes of our own."

Fisher passed out 10 assists for IMSA. Noesges controlled the net with six blocks and Shobhit Roy paced the Titans with four kills.

IMSA knows the potential for solid play exists after playing well in spurts Tuesday. But now sitting at 1-6 on the season, the Titans also know consistency will be the key to turning around their fortunes.

"If we played like we did during the comeback, we wouldn't have any problems winning against teams like this," Leemans said. "We know we can play well. The end of that game showed it. We just need to play like that all the time." Boys Volleyball