Boys volleyball: Final point, tourney title elude Redhawks

St. Francis squeaks by in nail-biter

LISLE -- The Naperville Central boys volleyball team worked so hard only to come up one point short - twice.

In two separate games against St. Francis, the Redhawks reached 24 points, but failed both times to seal the deal and watched the Spartans walk away with a 24-26, 30-28, 26-24 victory Saturday to capture the Benet Invitational championship.

"We had our opportunities," Central coach Bryan Johnwick said. "We were up 24-22 in both (games 2 and 3) and we just didn't execute."

Central (20-4) rallied from a 22-16 deficit to claim Game 1 and appeared to be headed to a two-game victory when the Redhawks took a 24-20 advantage in Game 2, but failed to close the door.

St. Francis (20-3) rallied to force a 24-24 tie and then the game went back and forth with four additional ties occurring before consecutive hitting errors by Central's Dan Dierking allowed the Spartans to take Game 2.

In the third game, St. Francis held a 16-11 lead, but Central eventually forged a 24-22 lead on a block from Matt Schmitz.

St. Francis scored the final four points to secure its first tournament championship this season.

"We just couldn't hold the lead," Schmitz said. "It wasn't anyone's fault. We just blew it there two times at the end."

Johnwick was disappointed none of his players stepped up as a leader.

"We have a lot of guys with experience," he said. "I just need one of my players to step up and say, 'I'm going to win this.' I'm still looking for that person right now."

Central did not appear tired in the championship match after surviving a marathon semifinal victory against Neuqua Valley.

The Redhawks and Wildcats played for more than 90 minutes before Central scored a 25-17, 23-25, 33-31 win.

"That Central match was crazy," Neuqua coach Erich Mendoza said. "I've been coaching for 10 years and I've seen a lot of good volleyball, but that was some of best I've seen - especially in Game 3."

Neuqua (26-3) held leads of 7-2 and 12-7 in Game 3, but Central gained steam and stormed back to take leads of 19-16, 23-20 and 24-22 before the Redhawks eventually closed out the match.

The Wildcats, who also lost a three-game match to St. Francis in pool play Friday, did respond after the loss to Central to claim third place with a 25-18, 25-13 win over Benet.

The Redwings (17-10) went 2-3 in their own tournament, but they were without middle hitter Josh Brozek, who was competing in an academic competition, and lost outside hitter Mike Quigley to a broken ankle in pool play Friday.

"We are working on filling out that left side," Benet coach Amy Van Eekeren said. "Coming into Saturday, I was just hoping we would play aggressive. We did let up a bit against Neuqua, but they are an outstanding team."

Benet lost to Central 25-23, 26-24 in pool competition Friday, but Van Eekeren was encouraged by the Redwings' effort against the Redhawks.

Waubonsie Valley (12-10) lost to Central 25-15, 25-20 and Benet 25-21, 25-20 in pool play, but rallied to take the consolation championship 19-25, 25-12, 25-22 over Glenbard West.

"We've gone to three tournaments and posted records of 3-2, 2-3 and 3-2," Warriors coach Al Lagger said. "We are starting three sophomores, so it is a growing process. I saw some really positive things from our team in this tournament."