Warriors struggle to close out Sabres

Waubonsie Valley's Aaron Cox (left) and Keith Dickenscheidt react moments before clinching their second win in the second game against the Streamwood Sabres.
(Heather Eidson/Beacon News)

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Waubonsie Valley opened the Upstate Eight Conference season at Streamwood Tuesday night with a convincing 25-17 victory in the first game, but Game 2 wasn't as easy to close.

The Warriors led the majority of the contest, but the pesky Sabres hung around long enough to make the Warriors sweat. Streamwood trailed 21-16 before knotting the score at 23-23. Alex Gigler finally ended the game with a pair of kills for a 25-23 decision.

Gigler blasted a shot for a 24-23 edge, then perfectly placed a tip over the net that handed the Warriors (4-2 overall, 1-0 UEC) the conference win.

For Waubonsie Valley, the heavy sweating began when the match was over. Not pleased with the performance, Warrior coach Alan Lagger sent his team to run suicides.

"We didn't meet some team goals," Lagger explained. "We had spurts where we did well, but then we'd relax and let them back in the game."

"And you can't do that," Lagger continued. "When you do, they'll come back and bite you."

Streamwood (0-4, 0-1) capitalized on a few Warrior mistakes down the stretch, but it was unable to claim the lead.

The Sabres gained a 2-0 margin, but an 8-1 run catapulted the Warriors ahead. Mike Kolkay put the Warriors on the board with a spike and after three straight out of bounds shots by the Sabres, the Warriors gained a 4-2 advantage.

Kolkay added a monster bash and a hard thump later in the contest and finished with six kills. Gigler led the Warriors with 10 kills and eight digs, while Kolkay added six digs.

"We only had two options tonight, and teams can dig those up," said Lagger.

"The communication was there in the second game and we stepped it up defensively," said Sabres coach David Buehring. "We spread out our attacks and did a better job in the second game."

Kevin Wohlhart led the Sabres with 10 kills, while Keith Dickenscheidt spearheaded the Warriors attack with 24 assists.