Maine South grinds out win over Marist

Marist's Evan Bruton and Garrett Dempsey (10) show their frustration against Maine South.
(Art Vassy/SouthtownStar)

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Maine South was looking for a little cushion against Marist. Good thing for the Hawks, they were able to get just that.

Maine South grabbed a six-point lead in Game 1 and a four-point lead in Game 2 and held on to stun the RedHawks 25-21, 25-20 on Friday in a boys volleyball state tournament quarterfinal at Hoffman Estates.

The Hawks (34-6) advance to today's 11 a.m. semifinal against Buffalo Grove.

''We felt like if we could get a little cushion, we'd be able to sideout with them the rest of the way,'' Maine South coach Gary Granell said. ''I feel that with our offense, we can sideout with anybody here.''

Junior Eric Butch had seven kills, two blocks and four aces and Matt Butch had three kills and six blocks for the Hawks. Joe Smalzer had nine kills and Evan Bruton added five kills for Marist (34-6).

''Our guys wanted it just as bad as their guys, but we looked afraid to make a mistake instead of doing what we've done to get this far,'' Marist coach Bob St. Leger said. ''We were close a couple of times. We just couldn't make that one play.''

Marist whittled down a 23-16 deficit in Game 1 to get within 24-21, but the Hawks closed out on a block by Matt Butch. The RedHawks were within 20-19 in Game 2, but a service error and a block by Ryan Tunney gave Maine South its cushion.