Boys volleyball: St. Charles North upsets West Chicago
ROCKFORD - The St. Charles North boys volleyball team admittedly suffered through a difficult regular season, but has caught fire during the state series.
The No. 7 seed North Stars split the opening two games in Friday's Rockford East sectional semifinal against No. 2 seed West Chicago, but displayed their mettle in a dominant third set.
St. Charles North broke out to a 10-1 lead and never looked back as it went on to complete the upset 27-25, 22-25, 25-13 victory and advance to Tuesday night's sectional championship against top-seeded Lake Park.
Six-foot-6 junior Tommy Koppang dominated up front for the North Stars (20-18), racking up a match-high 17 kills while senior setter Danny Throop dished out 29 assists with 6 digs.
"All year we've faced adversity in these three set games. It's just been a long season overall," Throop said. "People doubted us coming into this tournament, but on the inside we knew we had what it takes."
"The playoffs are definitely a different beast," said North Stars coach Todd Weimer. "Anything can happen. We're a 7th seed and we're one of the last 16 teams left in the state."
St. Charles North led most of the first set before West Chicago (21-9) rallied to grab a 24-22 lead. Koppang landed a kill and an ace down the sideline to put the North Stars back in front 25-24, and Brendan Dal Degan's tip gave them the set.
The Wildcats broke out to a 9-2 advantage in the second set and still led 23-15 when North answered with seven straight points.
West Chicago finally closed things out behind a kill from Ross Behr and a block from Caleb Kulesza.
"Even though we lost the second set, we had a great run at the end and that really motivated us and carried us on to the third set," Koppang said.
The decisive set belonged to the North Stars as Max DeDobbelaere reeled off six straight service points and Kyle Donleavy (8 kills, 8 digs) followed with three more to extend the lead to 17-5.
"We went up 10-1 in the third set and just shut them down. It was a very clean performance," Weimer said.
"I don't really understand it. How can you be in two sets and totally not be in the third set? It's kind of a mystery to me," said Wildcats coach Kris Hasty.
Behr paced West Chicago with 16 kills. Elijah Pinkevich and Mike Wagner added 9 and 7 kills respectively for the Wildcats, while Lucas Kulesza handed out 32 assists.
"West Chicago is a great team with great outside hitters," Throop said. "It was all just about the game plan. We executed it perfectly, both the mental and physical games."
"Our guys started to click a little bit more and understand their blockers," Koppang added. "They had a lefty outside which is really tricky, but we made sure we stayed on that shoulder."
The North Stars are relishing the opportunity to avenge last season's 25-15, 25-20 loss to Lake Park in the sectional final.
"They got us last year, but we're going to come back and try to get it this time," Koppang said. "That's what is firing us up right now."
"Lake Park is a force to be reckoned with," Throop said. "We have to match that level of play and we're excited to have that chance."
"It should be a good match win or lose. Nobody better be looking past us. We're going for broke," Weimer said.