Consolation prizes

CHICAGO -- The most significant return for Waubonsie Valley's efforts at the Marist Invitational was not the three wins, nor the sixth-place plaque the Warriors took home Saturday for placing second in the silver division. It was instead winning the third game against Shepard after surrendering a big lead in Game 2.

Waubonsie won the first game 25-20 and enjoyed a 22-13 advantage over the Astros in the second game before it allowed Shepard to win 14 of the final 19 points in a 25-27 setback. The Warriors responded with a 15-11 victory in Game 3 to advance to the fifth-place game of the 16-team tournament.

"I was proud of my kids the way they came back and won the third game the way we did, but yeah, there was a little bit of a fatigue factor this afternoon," Waubonsie coach Al Lagger said.

Benet had its struggles in the tournament, losing two of its first three matches before finishing with a pair of victories on Saturday afternoon to win the bronze division. In games played at Shepard in Palos Heights, the Redwings beat Mt. Carmel 25-23, 25-14 and Joliet Catholic 25-8, 25-17 to finish ninth overall.

"I feel like we redeemed ourselves in the bronze bracket," Benet coach Amy Van Eekeren said.

Against Joliet Catholic, outside hitters Bill Foran and Mike Quigley combined for 14 kills. Van Eekeren said she was pleased with how aggressively and consistently they played throughout the day.

Ben Steele, getting his first big dose of experience as a varsity setter, had 17 assists to go with two kills and two blocks against Joliet Catholic. Jack Garvin added four kills and three digs.

After starting the tournament with two wins on Thursday night, the Warriors lost their first match on Saturday morning 25-18, 25-23 to Lincoln-Way Central, which went on to secure the overall tournament title.

There were also frustrating moments for Waubonsie (3-2) in the fifth-place match, which they lost to Andrew 26-24, 25-17, but Lagger said his team's mistakes are correctable.

When Waubonsie was playing well on Saturday it got offensive production from seniors Alex Gigler and Mike Kolkay on the outside and a significant double block from 6-8 Connor Dougherty and 6-6 George Ghassan. When the Warriors broke down, the hitting errors, line fouls and missed serves mounted.

Though it was just one point, the final point in the loss to Andrew illustrated Waubonsie's struggles. An Andrew tip kill with all the malice of a butterfly fell to the ground within reach of at least three Warriors.

The frustrating part of Benet's day was its three-game loss to Reavis in the morning session. After winning the first game, 25-10, the Redwings fell 24-26 and 15-17. That loss, which changed Benet's possible hardware haul from fifth to ninth place, reinforced for Van Eekeren why she likes the tournament's format.

"It puts some pressure on us," she said. "You have to play your best ball or you have no chance to go for gold."