Boys Volleyball: Plainfield East beats Lincoln-Way West

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Jeff Wilkie had a successful debut as the head coach of Plainfield East’s boys volleyball team.

The Bengals held off a rally in the first set and put together a big burst in the second set to defeat Lincoln-Way West, 26-24, 25-19, on Wednesday at Plainfield East High School.

Senior outside hitter Tyler Volling led the way with eight kills and a pair of aces, as Plainfield East (1-0) won its opener against the traditionally powerful Warriors (0-2).

“We’re really excited,” Volling said. “This is a fresh start, and we’ve been looking forward to a new season. Coach (Wilkie) just gives us more freedom to be more aggressive on the court.”

That showed in the Bengal’s play. They led most of the match and didn’t make too many unforced errors.

“It definitely feels pretty good,” Wilkie said of winning the opener. “I was pretty proud of how the guys handled themselves on the court and stayed focused. We only had one missed serve all night.

“I’m blessed to have leadership, and when you have talent like that, you let them play.”

That’s what the Bengals did, racing out to a 17-11 lead in Set 1. Lincoln-Way West came back with four straight points, but senior outside hitter Jace Milka (4 kills, ace) had an ace as Plainfield East responded with a 4-0 run to go back ahead, 21-15.

“To beat Lincoln-Way West, which is one of the state’s top programs, in the opener feels great,” Milka said. “Coach (Wilkie) lets us have the freedom out there, and I think we are going to be a lot better than last year (10-8 record).

“If we get our communication down, we can be really good.”

Trailing 23-17 and then 24-19, it looked to be over for the Warriors in the first set. But they rallied with five straight points on kills by junior outside hitter Connor Studer (5 kills) and senior middle hitter Connor Dargan, along with a pair of errors. Senior outside hitter Brian Lynch (7 kills, 2 blocks) tied the score for the first time since 2-all with a kill.

But Lincoln-Way West served long and then hit a return wide to give the Bengals the first set.

“This isn’t what we wanted, but we are getting better every day,” West coach Jodi Frigo said. “We are a very emotional team, and when things don’t go our way we have to have composure.”

Trailing 4-3 in the second set, the Warriors looked like they regained their composure as Lynch had back-to-back kills in a 6-1 spurt for a 9-5 lead. But East took advantage of four errors, Volling had a couple of kills and sophomore setter Thomas Tagtmeyer added an ace in an 8-1 burst that put the Bengals ahead for good, 13-10.

Ahead 15-14, Volling hit a pair of kills and had a backline ace, and senior middle blocker Danny Houghian (2 kills, 3 blocks) had a pair of blocks as Plainfield East went on a 9-1 run for a 24-15 lead.

“Sometimes we have a breather and make some mistakes,” Volling said. “But consistency is the key for us. We had it in that [9-1 run]. We have a great group of guys and I’m looking forward to many more wins.”

Once again the Warriors tried to rally, scoring four straight points, and closing within 24-19 when Studer slammed a kill.

But with some of the Bengal faithful having flashbacks to the Minooka Sectional semifinal May 25, 2018, where Lincoln-Way West rallied to defeat them 28-30, 29-27, 26-24, en route to a sectional championship, the Warriors served into the net to end it.

“We had a lot of unforced errors,” said Frigo, who saw her team commit eight service errors. “We had some good stretches, we just have to carry that over the whole match. We are still trying to figure out the lineup. There’s a lot of volleyball left and we want to be peaking in the postseason.”