Glenbard West gains revenge

Nobody was hungrier on “Feed the Needy” night Wednesday at Glenbard West than the home team.

“This was huge,” said Hilltopper senior libero Kevin McGinnis, who along with fellow senior Adam Lepold had never beaten neighborhood rival St. Francis in six previous matches during their three-year varsity careers.

Until Wednesday, that is.

Lepold had 11 kills and three blocks, 6-foot-7 junior Ian Lawson added nine kills and McGinnis had 14 digs, four assists and an ace to lead Glenbard West to a 25-11, 18-25, 25-20 victory over the Spartans.

“This was so important,” Lepold said. “It had been a long three years of losing to these guys for Kevin and I. It feels great.”

Glenbard West (22-6) came out on fire against St. Francis, forcing timeouts at 11-5 and 19-8 in Game One. Lepold put an exclamation point on the opening game with a thunderous slam on game point.

But St. Francis (22-10) answered much like it had when the two teams met earlier in the finals of the Benet tournament, pulling away from a 8-7 lead in Game 2 with a 9-4 run to force a Glenbard West timeout.

The Spartans’ Jack Mordell led the rally with nine assists, three kills, a bock and a ace in the middle set. Six-foot-7 senior Matt Krese added five kills in Game 2 for St. Francis, which never let the hosts get closer than five points after building its 17-12 lead.

Mordell and Krese continued their hot streak in Game 3, giving St. Francis an early 9-6 advantage. But Glenbard West rallied with an 8-3 run capped by a combination block by Lepold and junior Alex Kahn. A dump by junior setter Alex Emanuel pushed the lead to 20-18.

“We got ourselves pumped up after Game 2 and got the adrenalin flowing,” McGinnis said. “Nobody got mad. We came together. Everyone wanted to win.”

A serve-receive error by the hosts got St. Francis even at 20-all, but Glenbard West broke the tie on a kill by Lawson and two kills by Lepold extended the lead to 24-20.

“I knew we were going to win after Lepold’s kill at 23-20,” McGinnis said.

“This year’s team is different from previous years,” he added. “We always seemed to have a weakness before. But this year we are good at every position. Everybody can get a kill. Everybody can make a dig.”

Mordell led St. Francis with 19 assists and seven kills, Krese added nine kills and John Portone added five kills and a block. Glenbard West got 20 assists from Emanuel, seven kills from Kahn and three aces from defensive specialist Mikey O’Dea.

“It’s hard to beat a good team three times in a season,” St. Francis coach Mike Lynch said. “It’s really hard to beat a good team four times. Our passing was real good in Game 2, but we had a little lapse in Game 3 and you can’t do that against Glenbard West.

“But this is a good week for us,” he added. “This match and Providence on Monday will get us ready for the playoffs.”

Where they would not meet Glenbard West for a fifth time this season until a possible state championship match.

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