Oak Park-River Forest downs Ignatius

Updated: May 31, 2011 9:04PM

Sometimes all it takes to pump a team up is the disappointment from the year before. And that’s exactly what Oak Park-River Forest did Tuesday night as it clinched its first sectional title since 2008, defeating host St. Ignatius 25-17, 25-23.

“Last year we were upset by Whitney Young in the sectional semifinals, so this is pretty sweet for us,’’ said senior Ben Wilks. “We worked hard, had a game plan coming in and executed that game plan to get the win.’’

The two teams came out evenly matched to start, but with senior outside hitter Alex Berton at the service line, the Huskies (27-13) were able to run off three straight points, breaking a 13-all tie and starting a 12-4 run which would give Oak Park-River Forest the Game I win. Wilks had three of his 10 kills in the run, including the game-winner.

“We got to give credit to our setter (Diego Rodriguez-Guerrios),’’ Wilks said. “This is his first year setting for us, because he came over from Puerto Rico and he’s done an awesome job this year. We wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without him.’’

The Huskies would need all their weapons in the second game, as the Wolfpack (23-15) were not going to go away silently in front of their home crowd. St. Ignatius, led by senior Rimas Grybauskas, kept the game close, never letting Oak Park-River Forest lead by more than three. Grybauskas led St. Ignatius with 10 kills.

Peter Ryckbosch added five kills for St. Ignatius, while Owen Brady had six for Oak Park-River Forest.

The Huskies move on to face the winner of WW South-Naperville North on Friday.

© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.