New Trier, Glenbrook North advance

Updated: May 27, 2011 11:54PM

New Trier will have a chance to avenge one of its six defeats in Tuesday’s Niles North Sectional final.

The No. 1-seeded Trevians (32-6) will face No. 2 Glenbrook North (30-8), a team that beat New Trier in two sets earlier in the campaign. A spot in next weekend’s IHSA State Tournament will be on the line.

Both New Trier and GBN advanced with two-set victories in Friday night’s Niles North Sectional semifinals. The Trevians defeated No. 4 Glenbrook South 25-16, 25-12, while the Spartans posted a 25-18, 25-18 win over No. 6 Hersey.

“We’re ready for GBN,” New Trier senior outside hitter Andrew Gates said. “We’re a focused team. We’ve been focused all year. Now it’s our time to really show that.”

Gates had 12 kills and three aces on Friday as New Trier defeated Glenbrook South for the third time this season.

New Trier senior setter Jesse Solomon had six kills and nine blocks, senior setter Eric Kerr had 17 assists and senior libero Joe Coyne had eight digs.

No. 4 Glenbrook South (18-16) was led by 7-foot senior outside hitter Lucas Rytel, who had six kills. Junior setter Brian Berman added three kills and six digs.

“I think we came out really strong this game,” said Rytel, whose team had an early 7-5 lead. “We evened it up with them (several) times, but they went on that run. That’s what they’ve done every time we’ve played them, they’ve gone on a run and we’ve not been able to recover from that.”

In the nightcap, Glenbrook North junior outside hitter Pat Bedford led the Spartans attack with eight kills, while senior middle hitter Scott Schwartz and junior middle hitter Luke Jacobson had seven kills apiece against Hersey. Senior libero Connor Bolan had 19 digs and senior setter Danny Slutsky was credited with 20 assists for Glenbrook North.

“We win because we play defense and like to spread the ball around a little bit. We use our middles a lot. That’s the recipe we’ve used so far, and it’s been working,” Glenbrook North head coach Chris Cooper said.

Cooper remembered his team’s first meeting with New Trier and said he’s not anticipating a similar match-up on Tuesday.

“The first set was close,” he said. “But in the second set, we got them stuck in a rotation and they couldn’t get out of it. The score was like 25-16. We don’t expect that kind of game from them. They’re too good to play that way twice.”

Hersey (21-16) was led by senior outside hitter David Mullen-Muhr (six kills) and senior middle blocker Jacob Portugal (seven digs).

“(Glenbrook North is) a well-balanced team with lots of options,” Hersey head coach Jodi Blazek said. “We just were kind of on our heels to start off with, our serve-receive was a little off, we had a little trouble picking up tips and we never really got things going like we should have.”

Blazek added: “It was a great season. I don’t’ think anybody thought we’d go this far being the No. 6 seed, so it was kind of nice to get here. I think we played some of our best volleyball at the end of the year.”

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