Devils take fourth at Schaumburg

Updated: April 25, 2011 6:24AM

Hinsdale Central avoided a repeat of last year's disappointing showing at the Schaumburg Invitational.

The Devils finished last in the eight-team tournament, but won three other tournaments last season. But last year's winless performance was forgotten this weekend

Hinsdale Central finished fourth while losing its last three matches to end the tournament. The Devils lost to the tournament's top two teams and then suffered a 25-17, 25-21 defeat to Addison Trail in the third-place match. The Devils (6-9) finished second in their pool using seedings based on last year's tournament results. Eventual two-time tournament champion Downers South defeated Hinsdale Central 25-20, 25-13 to end pool play.

In the semifinals, eventual runner-up Downers North won 25-17, 25-18 behind 14 kills by Greg Petty and eight kills by J.P. Tulacka. The Devils had only four kills each by L.J. Booth, Andrew Regnery and David Whinery. Junior middle hitter Peter Thompson added three blocks, but did not have kill.

The loss to Downers North was the first of two meetings against the West Suburban Silver rivals. The Trojans travel to Hinsdale April 26 for their annual conference match.

Hinsdale Central equalled its fourth-place finish at the St. Charles East Invitational April 9. Central has gone 2-3 in each of its tournaments this season. Central will compete in the Minooka Invitational Saturday, April 23, and will compete in the Willowbrook Invitational May 13-14.

Regnery has made the transition from playing middle hitter last season to hitting on the outside this season. Regnery said coach Len Serwat and assistant coach Kelly Maley were effective in teaching him to play the middle last season. Regnery plays outside hitter as a member of the Western Springs-based Third Coast Elite club team during the offseason.

"I'm a quick learner, I guess," Regnery said of making the move back to the outside. "Coach Maley and coach Serwat spent hours on end to get me ready to play middle last year."

Hinsdale Central's other wins Saturday came in pool play with victories over Fremd, 25-22, 25-17, and St. Charles East, 25-20, 24-26, 15-10.

"We're still trying to figure out who deserves to be out on the court," Regnery said. "We played with a lot of heart to keep proving that we can play with the really good teams."

Against Downers North, the Devils could not contain the 6-foot-6 Petty, who had nine kills in the second set of the semifinal. Six of his kills accounted for the Trojans' (9-2) first eight points in the second set.

"Our errors killed us," Regnery said. "They are a good team. We played great with them."

Hinsdale Central begins this week looking for its first West Suburban Silver win. The Devils lost to Oak Park-River Forest 25-21, 25-20 on April 5 and to York 25-22, 25-20 on April 12. Central plays at Glenbard West at 6 p.m. April 20.

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