Boys Volleyball: Glenbard West lives up to its No. 1 ranking, wins Lincoln-Way East Invitational

FRANKFORT – Danny Dorsey missed Glenbard West knocking Marist from the undefeated ranks the previous week.

He wasn’t going to miss this one.

The senior outside hitter was named tournament MVP after Glenbard West handed Indiana’s top-ranked team, Roncalli from Indianapolis, its first loss of the season with a 25-23, 25-23 win Saturday afternoon in the title match of the 30th annual Lincoln-Way East Invitational.

Dorsey hammered seven kills and added five digs and a block for the Hilltoppers, who are the top-ranked team in Illinois and continue to answer all challengers.

It was the 22nd straight victory for Glenbard West (23-1), which lost 22-25, 25-21, 25-23 to Lincoln-Way East on the same floor March 24 in its second match of the season.

The Royals (26-1), who were Indiana’s state runner-up last season, saw their 26-match win streak come to an end.

In last week’s 25-20, 25-16 victory over Marist in the championship match of the Smack Attack at Brother Rice, Dorsey was out with an illness.

His presence certainly made a difference against Roncalli.

“I was out with a massive sinus infection and it was painful,” Dorsey said of missing the previous week’s title match. “But the guys all picked me up.

“I loved every second of being out there today. [Brendan Louthain] is an amazing player for them. He’s insane. But we just have all these guys clicking out there and it’s been awesome.”

Louthian, who made the all-tournament team, originally is from the Naperville area. His father took a job in Indiana when he was young. The senior outside hitter, who has committed to Lindenwood University, had a match-high 16 kills.

“It was way fun,” said Glenbard West junior outside hitter Parker Moorhead, who had a block and three digs. “We got some really good competition at this tournament and [the title match] was a great win. We played as a team and we knew we had to be able to do that.”

Moorhead had six kills, including three down the stretch. With the Hilltoppers trailing 20-19 in the second set, Moorhead mashed back-to-back kills and junior middle blocker Liam O’Neil (3 kills, 4 blocks) had the first of his two big blocks at the end as Glenbard West took the lead for good with a 3-0 run.

Ahead 23-22, Moorhead put down another kill to move Glenbard West a point away from victory. Louthain had a block to close the gap to one, but his next attempt at a set tying kill was blocked by O’Neil for the match-winning point.

“It just felt amazing,” O’Neill said of his winning block. “I felt really hyped up. My team surrounded me. They empowered me. This win helps us a ton. We want the best competition and everyone coming at us.”

Glenbard West coach Christine Giunta-Meyer was happy with her team’s adjustments, especially O’Neill.

“He made such good adjustments,” she said. “What I liked at the end is that we stopped our hitting errors and found our finesse. Also, Dorsey is such a good leader and always shows that for us. He’s just an amazing human being. I’m really proud of our defense. We settled in and played really well.”

While the match was tight throughout, the Hilltoppers led most of the way including 11-7 early in the second set. Roncalli scored the first two points of the first set, but Glenbard West came back with four straight and never trailed again in the set. With the score tied 7-7, Glenbard West had four players with kills in a 5-0 run.

The Royals rallied to tie it at 18-18, but Dorsey and opposite side hitter Gavin Swartz (5 kills) had back-to-back kills to start a 3-0 run for Glenbard West. Dorsey later deposited the winner in the first set.

Sam Alles, a defensive specialist who had four digs in the title match and also stepped in to play libero Friday in pool play, also was named to the all-tournament team.

Trevor Powell, a senior setter, continued to do an outstanding job setting the table with 25 assists, a kill, two blocks, two aces and four digs. Senior opposite side hitter Gavin Swartz contributed five kills and three digs. Senior libero Kenny Gibson had 11 digs for the Hilltoppers.

While it was another big win for Glenbard West, there’s still more volleyball to be played.

“It [our record] is very good and this win is very important,” Dorsey said. “But we can’t let this win define us. We have to continue to go 100 percent and not be complacent.”

It was the 30th annual Lincoln-Way East Invite, but the first since 2019 because of the pandemic.

In the semifinals, Glenbard West defeated Lockport 25-21, 25-14. Roncalli toppled the host Griffins 25-20, 25-21.