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Joliet West, Joliet Catholic victorious
Updated: May 23, 2011 10:33PM
Only in a sport like boys volleyball – where all schools play in the same classification – will a state tournament regional doubleheader have such a strong Joliet flavor. All three Joliet high schools – West, Central and Joliet Catholic – plus Plainfield South, whose school building sits right next to a Joliet water tower, got together Monday night for the first round of the Joliet West Regional.
Needless to say, both winners were had short, but happy rides home.
Fourth-seeded and host Joliet West started the night at the Tigers’ gym with a 25-17, 25-21 win over fifth-seeded Plainfield South. Their neighbors from just up Larkin Avenue – the third-seeded Hilltoppers from Joliet Catholic – then swept Joliet Central 25-15 and 25-18.
Those two first-round games set up Tuesday’s semifinal matchups featuring top-seeded Minooka and Joliet West at 6:30 p.m., followed by Joliet Catholic and No. 2 seed Plainfield Central.
West (10-23) never trailed in either game vs. Plainfield South but the Tigers did not pull away from the Cougars until the final stages of each set. A run of five points, keyed by three kills from senior middle Kevin Black, pushed the West advantage to 15-8 midway through the opening game. South could get no closer than within five the rest of the game.
It took West a little longer to shake the pesky Cougars (6-21) in the second set as the score was tied at 15 apiece following a four-point run by South. West, though, responded with four quick points of its own, highlighted by a block and a kill from senior middle Mike Hester.
“This was a good overall team effort,” said West coach Jason Herrmann. “We had a nice balanced offensive attack with Mike Hester getting five kills and four other players getting four each.”
The Tigers are excited about the chance to play host to Minooka, a team that finished fourth in the state last year.
“We played them at their tourney earlier this year,” said Herrmann, “but it will be fun to get a shot at them at home with a spot in the regional final on the line. One of our goals as a team is to get to the regional final and become the first team at West this year to win one.”
South coach Robert Majka was pleased with his team’s effort and improvement this season.
“We won six this year but we only won one last year so we are moving in the right direction,” said Majka. “We have a very young team and feel good about what lies ahead.”
Joliet Catholic (13-25) controlled the evening’s final match and trailed only twice at 1-0 and 3-2 in the opening set. Central (5-31) managed to get to within 19-14 in the first game before the Hilltoppers reeled off six of the next seven points to take the set. They kept the momentum following the break between games and ran off the first six points of the second set and never looked back.
Central did manage to narrow the deficit to just two points at 12-10, 13-11, 14-12, 15-13 and 16-14 but could not string together enough points to overtake Joliet Catholic. The Hilltoppers finished the game with a 7-3 run.
“I really liked our consistent play tonight,” said Joliet Catholic coach Rhyen Staley. “We will have to push our play up to a higher level (Tuesday) night against Plainfield Central.”
Outside hitter and team captain Kyle Kirwan is the lone senior on the Hilltoppers’ roster and has been the team leader in kills for most of the season.
“We’ve played some tough competition and are still learning to play together,” said Staley, “and when you do that with sophomores and freshmen they sometimes tend to fade a little. But these kids have improved all season long and will give Plainfield Central all they have.”
Central coach Justin McNally was happy with his young team’s effort.
“Our record does not show how well and how competitive we have played in many matches,” said McNally. “The competition is so tough in our area. If you expect to play well around here, you better grow up fast because there is a lot of great talent in our state.”
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