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mokenamessenger.com sports
the Mokena Messenger | June 7, 2018 | 45
‘Play for the guy next to you’
Griffins capture
second state title
RANDY WHALEN
Freelance Reporter
The Lincoln-Way East
boys volleyball team waited
a year for this moment. Going
the distance made it even
sweeter.
The Griffins rallied in a
pair of three-set thrillers and
emerged as the 2018 Illinois
High School Association
boys state volleyball champions.
In the title match,
East pulled away down the
stretch and came away with
a 20-25, 25-21, 25-22 victory
over Neuqua Valley on
Saturday, June 2, at Hoffman
Estates High School.
Senior middle hitter Mike
Herlihy came back after
missing the first four postseason
games to play in the
state finals and led the way
for the Griffins (39-3) in the
title match with 11 kills and
three blocks.
It was the second state
championship in five years
for East, which lost 25-21,
20-25, 25-16 to Glenbard
West in the title match last
season. The Griffins have
made four state finals appearances
in the past five
years and seven overall. This
is their fourth trophy.
Neuqua Valley (33-8) was
making its first state finals
appearance since 2009. it
was the highest finish for the
Wildcats, who placed third
in 2007 and 2008.
“This just feels so good,
this is what we wanted all
season,” said senior outside
hitter Ian Piet, who has been
the Griffins kill leader for
the past three seasons. “The
fact that it was close makes
it feel even better.”
Piet was limited to a pair
The Lincoln-Way East boys volleyball team poses with a trophy Saturday, June 2, after winning the IHSA state
championship Saturday, June 2, by defeating Neuqua Valley. Photo submitted by Nikki Fiore
of kills, three digs and a
block in the title match. But
he made a key play down the
stretch. With the score tied at
17-17, Piet received a serve.
But his dig went right back
over the net and looked close
to going out. Instead a Wildcats
player tried to receive it
and the ball bounced off him
and went out of bounds. That
started a 4-1 spurt that put
East ahead for good.
“That was just a weird
play,” Piet said. “My hands
and arms were all sweaty
and the ball just went [back
over]. I don’t even know
what happened.”
East led 23-20, but the
Wildcats made it interesting
with two straight points on a
kill and then an ace by senior
outside hitter Jeremy Grove.
Grove, who had a matchhigh
19 kills, tried to sneak
in another ace, but his serve
was just too long to give the
Griffins match point. After a
few volleys they delivered
as Wil McPhillips put down
a kill to send East into a joyous
celebration.
McPhillips, a junior middle/opposite
side hitter, really
came on for the Griffins
the past month. He finished
with 10 kills and two blocks
in the title match.
“It’s just crazy,” McPhillips
said of his progress in
contributing throughout the
season. “I was just glad to be
here. Everyone stepped up,
pushed each other in practice,
and knew their role.
It was an honor to get that
[match] point for my team,
but everyone played great.”
Another Griffin that
stepped up was George Kougan
(8 kills). The senior outside
hitter had six kills in the
final game, including two in
a 4-0 run that gave East an
11-7 lead.
“It helps when you have
five guys that can put the
ball away,” Kougan said.
“It was a crazy match, and
we had to come back from
down a set to Neuqua Valley.
They’re a great team and
Grove is a great player. It’s
so hard to block him. When
we were down coach [Kris
Fiore] just told us to play for
the guy next to you. That’s
what we did.”
Senior outside hitter Mark
Wroblewski (5 kills), senior
middle hitter Luis Zavala
(4 kills, 2 blocks), junior
setter Brent O’Donnell (18
assists), senior setter Jeremy
Walsh (16 assists), and
senior defensive specialist
Blake Boykin (9 digs) also
contributed for the Griffins.
“This is how it’s been
the entire playoffs, we just
spread the ball around,”
Fiore said of his team’s balance.
“I think it was midway
through the New Trier
[semifinal] match when I
said, ‘Hey guys, we’re getting
too one dimensional and
that’s not what got us here.
Let’s spread the ball around.’
People needed to step up and
make plays and they did the
rest of the day.”
In the opening set, East led
13-8 only to see the Wildcats
rally to tie the score at 16-16.
A 3-0 run seemed to get the
Griffins back on track, but
Neuqua Valley came back
with six straight points. Wroblewski
walloped a kill to
make it 22-20. Then, Grove
— who had 31 kills in a 26-
24, 23-25, 25-23 quarterfinal
win over Lincoln-Way West
— had a kill and back-toback
aces as the Wildcats
closed out the opener.
The second set had four
lead changes and 10 ties.
The last tie was at 18-18,
then East went on a 5-0 spurt
as Zavala zipped a kill to
start it and zapped an ace
for the next point. Herlihy
hammered a kill during the
stretch, too.
Herlihy, who cut his
left hand May 21 and had
16 stitches, missed all of
the regional and sectional
matches. He was given the
go-ahead to play in the state
finals on Thursday, May 31,
and was sure glad he did.
“It was a bad time,” said
Herlihy, who wore a mitt on
his hand. “But it was unbelievable
to come back for the
state finals, and oh man, to
win this is insane.
“After we lost last year,
we were thinking ‘next
year.’ We remembered what
it felt like and that drove us.
We just had to push through,
and that’s what we did.”
East was expecting a rematch
with three-time defending
state champion
Glenbard West in the finals.
But the Wildcats made sure
that didn’t happen with a 24-
26, 25-22, 25-20 victory in
the first semifinal. Glenbard
West (38-4), which lost more
matches this year than the
last three seasons combined
(3) rebounded to defeat New
Trier 25-15, 25-22 for third
place.
“Absolutely I’m super
proud of the kids and the
staff that we’ve been able
to put together here,” Fiore
said of winning his second
title in three appearances.
“We’ve got a real good system
we’ve implemented and
the kids at our school have
bought into it.”