Boys Volleyball: Glenbard West survives three-set thriller at IHSA state quarterfinals

HOFFMAN ESTATES – Glenbard West took a big step toward another state championship Friday morning.

The Hilltoppers, the defending state champions, nearly stumbled in their state volleyball quarterfinal against Glenbrook South but managed to regain their footing to post a 25-15, 21-25, 25-20 victory at Hoffman Estates High School.

The Hilltoppers (38-2) advance to take on Oak Park-River Forest at 10 a.m. Saturday in a battle of West Suburban Silver Division teams. The Hilltoppers defeated the Huskies in two sets on April 18.

Glenbard West battled back in the third game against the Titans with a spirited comeback, playing in a third game for just the fourth time all season.

Glenbard West senior outside hitter Parker Moorhead, who had 12 kills and six digs, said the team showed a lot of heart battling back from a rough second game.

“The first set we were solid as a team and everything was firing, but the second set something was off,” Moorhead said. “I think we maybe got a little complacent because we thought we had this because of the first set, but you have to give props to them, because they were playing so well. In the second set, they barely had any errors, so it was on us to fire back up.

“At the end of the second set, we started to fire up.”

Junior Casey Maas was a big-time threat all game, smacking balls to end several rallies by the Titans to finish with 12 kills and two digs. Maas said the seniors helped the lesser experienced state players on Friday.

“There’s definitely a lot of pressure for us new juniors playing, but we try and stay calm and get in the zone before the game and stay focus during the game,” Maas said. “We did a lot of team bonding on the bus that helped. It’s relaxing.”

The Hilltoppers, who have won five state titles since 2015, rode their experience to pull away in the third game, seizing leads of 10-3 and 24-13.

“I think we were a bit surprised, because we expected them to be in system a lot,” Glenbard West senior middle hitter Liam O’Neill said. “We pride ourselves on being a pretty good serving team, which we were today. We were definitely working on serving to specific spots and seams.”

The Titans (37-2) mounted an impressive comeback to make the defending champs sweat a bit, nearly erasing a 10-point deficit in the third game. The Titans scored seven straight points to show tremendous heart in a historic run for the program. Kris Blumberg and Chance Shampine both had 10 kills, and Chris Lee added 12 digs.

“It’s so different for us being down here (at state), and everything felt different, but the second game we played our game,” Glenbrook South coach Annie Kotsadam said. “We were having fun and played more relaxed and gave our hitters more opportunities in the second set. In the third set, we felt the pressure and were forcing things we usually don’t force. It wasn’t going our way, and I saw a little breakdown in our system. We didn’t have our normal passing.”

Kotsadam said the Titans, who had their 30-match winning streak snapped, had “an incredible season.”

“This group bought into everything we told them and were great teammates,” she said. “We worked as a team, and that won us points and games. I’m so proud of them. They did what they set out to do and more. We had seven straight points at the end. That was incredible. We were locked in and played defense and locked in.”

https://www.dailyherald.com/sports/20230602/boys-volleyball-glenbrook-south-pushes-glenbard-west-to-3-sets-but-defending-champs-move-on