Mustangs pound out upset of Maine South

Downers Grove South was missing three senior starters because of prom, but that didn’t stop the host Mustangs from upsetting Maine South 25-22, 25-19 in the opening pool play match Friday night at the Mustang Invitational.

Junior Buddy Steinhaus spiked a match-high nine kills and reserve back row players Tony Coglianese and Mike Zinnecker had stellar defensive efforts for Downers South (15-6), the 12th seed of the 24-team tournament.

“Our normal starters were at prom so we were making do with what we’ve got,” Steinhaus said. “We came out with a lot of intensity and I think that’s what got us the win.”

Blocks by Julius Staisiunas and Sam Kull fueled an opening 7-3 run by the Mustangs. No. 5 seed Maine South (15-4) got as close as 21-19 before two Steinhaus kills halted the rally.

A Mike Hejza kill gave the Hawks a 7-4 lead in the second game, but Downers South quickly came back to take the lead for good. Steinhaus broke a 10-10 tie with two kills and two service points.

“We focused a lot on passing and our defense all week and that’s what we really picked up in this game,” Steinhaus said. “It’s a huge win. We’ve got the momentum on our side. We’ll just keep rolling and hopefully it carries on into tomorrow and once we get our players back they’ll pick up where we left off and we’ll hopefully get a championship under our belt.”

The result stunned Downers South coach Tony Nevrly, whose club has won 11 of its last 13 matches.

“Absolutely surprised,” Nevrly said. “I’m very impressed. I was just hoping to play well and possibly play in the Silver pool [Saturday], but now we’ve got a chance to play in the Gold, which is nice. The kids are playing well together and that’s really nice to see.”

Jim Healy had six kills and Julius Staisiunas added three for the Mustangs, who also received 18 assists from setter Phil Szuck and three blocks from Kull.

Eric Butch and Matt Butch paced Maine South with six kills each.