Glenbard West wins Lincoln-Way East Invitational for third time in four years

FRANKFORT -- The Lincoln-Way East Invitational boys volleyball tournament always delivers a show. Some of the best from around the state and in Indiana come together to see who can take the crown.

After a long day of volleyball to make the finals, two teams emerged for one final contest: Glenbard West and the hosts. The Griffins were looking to win the tournament for the fifth time since 2012 and first since 2019. The Hilltoppers were looking to make it three wins in five years.

It took three sets, but in the end, Glenbard West came out on top.

The Hilltoppers let a late lead slip away in the first set, but followed that with a dominant second.

The match concluded with a competitive set three and Glenbard West coming out on top 24-26, 25-8, 25-20.

Charlie Clifford was named MVP of the tournament after a dominant Saturday. In three matches, he put up 16 kills, two blocks, nine digs, two aces.

Glenbard West (21-3) could’ve easily lost momentum after the first set. Up 23-20, Lincoln-Way East refused to go down and wound up coming out on top 26-24. Many teams would’ve collapsed following such a scenario.

Instead, the Hilltoppers put up one heck of a run against one of the best teams in the state. After the two teams battled out to a 4-4 draw, Glenbard West scored the next 15 points. Thought the Griffins battled late, the hole was too deep to climb out of.

“If you knock the wind out of their sails, don’t let them sail back,” Glenbard West coach Christine Giunta-Mayer said. “Keep moving up the river. That’s what we did. We kept letting the river go and we went with it.”

Set three was back and forth with neither side giving an edge until Glenbard West scored four of the final five points of the contest to take victory.

“It’s obviously a really strong tournament,” Clifford said. “It feels great that we won. Lincoln-Way East is an excellent team. We had a brutal path to get here. We beat a bunch of excellent teams and our pool was tough yesterday. I think it’s a testament to how deep our team is.”

Lincoln-Way East (19-3) was led by Matt Muehlnickel with nine kills and seven digs. Konrad Swierczek added five blocks, Dylan Nanney had 13 assists and Carter Geiger chipped in seven kills.

“I’m just really proud of our kids and how we played overall,” Lincoln-Way East coach Kristopher Fiore said. “Going into this weekend we had two starters missing Friday and one missing today. We had to shuffle some kids into some new spots and we thought they really excelled. ... It was just a battle and fantastic volleyball on both ends.”

It was an eventful day all around for the 33rd edition of the Invite. 24 teams entered the day with hopes of taking home the top prize.

After winning their respective pools, the Griffins and the Hilltoppers worked their way through the Gold Bracket. West took care of Cathedral in three before besting Downers Grove North in the semis. Lincoln-Way East dispatched Glenbrook South in three, which is how many sets it took them to knocking off Brother Rice.

The Silver Flight of the tournament was won by Fishers (In.) who bested Belleville East in two. Marist took down Yorkville 25-17, 21-25, 15-11 in the Bronze championship. Lincoln-Way Central also won their pool and made the Gold Flight before being edged out by Brother Rice.

Other local teams competing included Minooka (Silver), Lockport (Silver), Lincoln-Way West (Silver), and Joliet Catholic (Bronze).