Boys Volleyball: Third time’s a charm for Glenrook North at Brother Rice
Updated: April 21, 2012 7:45PM
Having advanced to the championship match of the Brother Rice Smack Attack for a third straight year, Glenbrook North’s Luke Jacobson decided he’d had about enough.
The Spartans finished second back-to-back years at the tourney, but the third time was the charm.
With Jacobson keying the offense and a strong effort off the bench late aiding the cause, No. 4 Glenbrook North won 25-22, 27-25 over No. 6 Lincoln-Way East Saturday for the Smack Attack title.
“Second place is never fun,” Jacobson said. “We wanted gold. We wanted first, and nothing else. We had the motivation, and we were able to do it.
Jacobson (13 kills), Kyle Bedford (30 assists), Patrick Bedford (eight kills) and Brian O’Keefe (four kills) led Glenbrook North (19-2) in the championship match.
Nate Royer (10 kills, 11 digs) paced Lincoln-Way East (18-3) to go with efforts from Austin Royer (21 assists) and four kills apiece from Kevin McClafferty and Jason Garnett.
“Our two losses are to Wheaton Warrenville South, and we always felt like we could play with the teams at this tournament,” North coach Chris Cooper said. “It’s great for the guys to finally win it.”
Having squeaked out a win in Game 1, the Spartans fell behind and trailed for nearly the entire second game. Lincoln-Way East never led by more than three points late but could never put North away.
The Spartans even went up 24-23, only to hold off a charge and get the win on a Cody Bolan ace.
“Our bench helped a ton coming in with a lot of energy,” Jacobson said. “Tied 25-25 was a tough situation, but our energy was a key.”
For Lincoln-Way East, coach Kris Fiore pointed to a shift to the one-dimensional late in the second.
“We didn’t run our offense the way we had all tournament,” Fiore said. “We started relying on one or two people, and we’ve got to spread the ball around.”
Glenbard West defeated Buffalo Grove 29-31, 25-15, 25-23 in the Gold Flight third place match.
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