Tigers rally past Brother Rice

Brother Rice's Kevin Padden spikes a ball over two WW South's players.
(Matt Marton/SouthtownStar)

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Wheaton Warrenville South was getting pushed around pretty good by Brother Rice in Friday's second quarterfinal at Hoffman Estates.

Facing elimination trailing by eight points midway through Game 2, the Tigers decided to fight back en route to a 15-25, 25-22, 25-22 victory.

‘‘I learned early in volleyball that when somebody pushes you, you have to push back,’’ said WW South’s Neill Nystrom.

Kevin Mueller had nine kills and Nystrom and Eric Hardek each had seven as the defending state champions overcame a 12-4 deficit in Game 2 and a 10-4 deficit in Game 3 to defeat Brother Rice.

WW South (32-7) will face Providence in Saturday’s 10 a.m. semifinal.

Kevin Padden had 11 kills, Pat Andrasco added seven kills and Steve Mattes finished with 28 assists for Brother Rice (28-12).

‘‘Going into the match, I don’t think any of us wanted to prove anybody wrong, we just wanted to win so badly,’’ Mattes said.

Joe Kelly added 24 assists, two blocks and two kills for WW South.

‘‘We were fighting ourselves out there, especially in Game 1 and early in Game 2,’’ WW South coach Bill Schreier said. ‘‘Somewhere in Game 2, the lightbulb went on.’’