Luhrsen, Stefanski carry load for WW South

Updated: April 25, 2011 6:24AM

This was not the same Wheaton Warrenville South team that was pushed to three games by Downers Grove South back on March 23.

"We have definitely progressed," WW South's Eric Luhrsen said. "We have all our players back, and that makes a difference. We have had a couple of weeks to practice with the same lineup. We have gotten into a rhythm."

Luhrsen had six kills and two aces, Michal Stefanski added seven kills and two blocks, and setter Dave Priest played all the right notes as the Tigers rolled to a 25-18, 25-17 victory over the hosts in the championship of the Mustang Invitational Saturday at Downers South.

Thomas Jaeschke and 6-foot-5 junior middle Matt Nussbaum each added two kills and a block for the Tigers, who improved to 19-2 with their 14th consecutive win.

"I'm not a bad setter, but it's great to know we have the team that we do," said Priest, who had 15 assists, six kills and an ace. "At the beginning of the year, everybody was talking about how we had Luhrsen back, Stefanski coming in and our two middles back.

"But nobody talked about Jaeschke, who's is 6-7 and one of the best hitters around," said Priest. "We have guys on the bench like (6-6 junior Tim) Zyburt. We have depth. It's nice to have that."

Priest used all his weapons Saturday, and wasn't afraid to take a few shots of his own. The 6-3 senior had four kills in Game 1, including a nifty over-the-back dump that gave WW South an 11-9 lead as part of a 10-5 run that broke an 8-all tie.

"Everyone is always pushing," Priest said. "We all push each other to a higher level."

Game 2 was more of the same, with WW South using a 14-7 run to extend a 6-5 lead. Jaeschke got the Tigers within match point with his second kill of the game, and 6-7 junior middle Matt Callaway ended the affair with a quick hitter over the middle.

However, Priest was not satisfied.

"This is not OK," Priest said. "We are not content. It's a great thing to win this, but it's not our ultimate goal."

Sam Kull had five kills, Travis Coomer added three kills and a block and Mike Zinnecker added three kills for Downers South (21-3), which defeated New Trier 25-19, 25-22 in the semifinals to ensure its best finish ever in the tournament.

"We went 4-1 this weekend and 14-1 over our last three weekends with two first-place finishes and a second," Downers South coach Tony Nevrly said. "That's not bad. We had never won our first game in the gold pool on Saturday here before.

"But the measuring stick is Wheaton South," he added. "They served real well, and when we were able to get the ball past them we weren't able to get it down."

New Trier (18-4) rebounded from its semifinal loss to Downers South to defeat Lake Park 25-19, 25-19 for third place. Andrew Gates had six kills, Jesse Solomon added four kills and two blocks, and Eric Kerr had 17 assists, three kills and two blocks.

"This is another really competitive tournament," senior middle Bennett Wakenight said. "After we won the Warren tournament, we fixed some little things that were getting us down. We're coming together."

Trace Szczygiel had four kills, Eddie Keesecker added three kills, Matt Ciaglia had five blocks and Matt McCown had 12 assists for Lake Park (17-4).

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