Joliet outlasts Bolingbrook in three

With the score at 21-20 in Game 3 of Tuesday's Bolingbrook Regional semifinal match, Joliet and Bolingbrook saw their season's worth of work come down to just a few points.

It was Joliet's Corey Frain who decided his team's run was not done. The senior's monstrous kill and then ace put Joliet up 22-21.

Then Frain's teammate Dylan Frederick's 13th and 14th kills ended the match 25-23.

"We told Dylan, 'the balls going to you'", Joliet coach Jason Herrmann said. "He stepped up and was a leader. It's huge when we have a guy we can give the ball to and know he'll deliver."

The Steelmen won Game 1 25-21 and the Raiders took Game 2, 25-17.

In the beginning of the final game, Herrmann made a roster error which immediately penalized his team a point.

"I put a number one (on the roster sheet) when it was supposed to be a number two," Herrmann said. "It was a an error that nobody caught, but it was OK because we fought back and got the lead."

A short-lived lead, however, as the two teams traded points the entire match.

"In the third game I don't want to play back-and-forth or catch-up ball at all," Herrmann said. "You can play and practice for everything, but you can't predetermine what is going to happen on the court.

The predetermination Herrmann was talking about Joliet coming into the match the favorite, having swept Bolingbrook in the regular season.

"Bolingbrook gave us a tough match," Herrmann said. "It's hard to beat a team three times in a season. They know what we are doing and we know what they are doing. It's a good battle."

Dylan Frederick had 14 kills and Dylan's twin, Greg Frederick, added 10. Frain had nine kills with 14 digs while senior Adam Hucek tallied 31 assists.

Joliet struggled with their serving, something Herrmann said his team needs to fix before tonight's regional title match against Naperville North at 5 o'clock. Naperville North beat Lockport 25-15, 25-16 in the other semifinal match.

"You can't let them get free points by serving it out of bounds," Herrmann said. "Hopefully we will bring our level of play up (Wednesday) as we take on a really good team."