JT rallies for 'W' against Lockport

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

JOLIET -- The players on Joliet Township High School's boys volleyball team would prefer to get out of the habit of extending matches to three games.

But winning a prolonged match in three games still beats the alternative, as the Steelmen were happy to point out following Tuesday's match with rival Lockport.

The Steelmen bounced back from a Game 2 defeat to the Porters to capture a 25-19, 20-25, 25-22 Southwest Suburban Blue victory at JT Central.

"Something we've been working on and I'd like to see by the end of the year is for us to finish matches in two games," JT coach Jason Herrmann said. "We played at our rhythm in game one but then in game two we didn't fight as hard as we needed to and they beat us.

"I told our guys that we had to come out real hard in game three and we were able to come back. We're a senior-heavy team so I stressed to our guys that we need to be better at winning in two games. Nonetheless, it's good to get a win and to do it in a long match."

In Game 3, the Porters (10-8, 3-5) forced their last tie at 17-17 following a kill by Jake Boyce (5 kills, 7 blocks).

But the Steelmen (13-7, 4-4) scored 6 of the next 8 points to go up 23-19 following kills from Josh Tucek (6 kills) and Dylan Frederick (13 kills).

Lockport got a kill from Patryk Tabernacki (8 digs) and a hitting error to make it 23-21 but JT answered with a kill from Dylan Frederick.

After Boyce got a kill to make it 24-22, Greg Frederick (10 kills, 10 digs), a four-year varsity player like his brother Dylan, ended things with a kill.

"Coach tells us that you have to make a statement by winning tough, close matches and that's what we did," Dylan Frederick said. "We came out and performed better in the end. We've gone to three games a lot this year and we're getting tired of losing the third game.

"The thing that I love about this team is our chemistry since we've all been playing together for a long time. A soon as someone gets a big kill, we all cheer because we find volleyball to be so much fun. That's what makes it fun to be able to play with these guys."

The Porters took control midway through the second game as Drew Dicksen (22 assists) capped a 4-0 run to give his team a 13-10 lead.

JT managed to get to within 15-14 following an ace from Dylan Frederick but the Porters used kills by Josh Hertzman and Theo Sloan (8 kills) to go up 20-16.

A block by Boyce gave Lockport a 22-17 lead and two hitting errors made it 24-18 before Kyle Dicksen (8 kills) closed things out with a kill.

"This was our first match since we changed from a 6-2 to a 5-1," Porters coach Janice Barnickel said. "So it took a little bit of adjusting during the first game. The guys were able to get things together in the second game and then the third game was just a battle.

"These teams have always been evenly-matches so going in we knew that it was going to be a battle. If we had more time to practice the 5-1 the outcome might have been different. This is a talented group with good court sense and they're building a strong camaraderie."

The first game was tied at 12-12 when the Steelmen established control by scoring 7 of the next 8 points to grab a 19-13 advantage.

Dylan Frederick got things started with a kill and a block to put his team up 15-12 and he later added an ace to go along with a kill by Bryan Saunders (4 kills).

Lockport closed to within three points on two occasions but Joliet responded with kills from Saunders, Dylan Frederick and Tucek to help it claim a 24-18 advantage.

The Steelmen also got 28 assists from Eric Black, 5 kills and 8 blocks from Phillip Murray and 12 digs from Dan Campos while Ryan Brannigan had 11 digs for the Porters.