Boys volleyball: Plainfield North gets back on track with win over Joliet West

The past two weeks have been a little tough for the Plainfield North boys volleyball team.

The Tigers hope the next two-plus weeks are better.

They took a step in that direction with a big 25-23, 25-17 win over Joliet West in a Southwest Prairie Conference match Monday evening in Plainfield.

It was the second straight victory for Plainfield North (19-10, 6-2) after losing five out of six between April 23 and May 3. For Joliet West (20-7, 5-2), which also is nicknamed the Tigers, the loss basically takes away any opportunity for a conference championship. Plainfield East (21-5, 7-0) currently is leading the conference.

“Yeah, we’ve been up-and-down this season, and this was a good win for us,” Plainfield North senior outside hitter Andrew Fedmasu said. “We’re looking to win a regional for the first time in nearly a decade [2014 was the last one], and we know we have to work hard.”

Was Plainfield North looking to knock Joliet West out of the conference race?

“No, not really,” Fedmasu said. “What we still want to do is beat Plainfield East [next Monday at Plainfield East] and show that we’re the best team in Plainfield.”

Fedmasu (9 kills, 3 blocks) helped make sure that Plainfield North was the best team on the court Monday as he led the way in kills. Junior outside hitter Aidan Cupps (8 kills, 2 blocks) was right there, too, while sophomore middle hitter Christopher Mactal (3 kills, 2 blocks), senior setter Bryce Wrobel (21 assists) and senior libero Dillon Markley (8 digs) all did their part.

“It was a big step up and a nice win,” Wrobel said. “This was our last home match, and we wanted to win. We haven’t won a regional championship in a long time, and we just need to find our rhythm earlier in the match.”

In the first set, neither team found much rhythm as Plainfield North had seven service errors and Joliet West had four. There were only two lead changes but eight ties in the opener. The last tie was at 21-all, and then Cupps had a pair of kills to give Plainfield North the lead for good.

Sophomore outside hitter Nate Fleischauer had a kill for Joliet West to make it 23-22, but in a huge play, a dig by Markley went over the net and fell in for a point. Senior setter/opposite side hitter Logan Brouwer (4 kills, assist) put down a kill to pull Joliet West within a point. Then Fedmasu found the opening for the set-winning attack.

Joliet West had an early 3-2 lead in the second set and then it was all Plainfield North as Cupps and Fedmasu each had a pair of kills in a 6-1 spurt for a 9-4 advantage. Ahead 17-14, Plainfield North put it away with a 5-0 run that included a trio of errors, an ace by Markley and a nice tip block at the net by Fedmasu to finish it off for a 22-14 advantage.

Cupps capped off the match with a block.

Sophomore setter/opposite side hitter Landon Brouwer had eight assists, and libero Jake Kreft had nine digs, but fellow senior Ben Castillo was limited to two kills at outside hitter for Joliet West.

“It’s tough to take another loss in the conference,” Joliet West coach Neil Lucchetti said. “We’ve got to show up every night. We had a lot of errors, and when you’re playing against a good team it’s hard to claw back.

“We get another shot tomorrow at home against Oswego to prove who we are.”

With senior outside hitter Derek Schober back in the lineup for a week now, Plainfield North hopes to prove who it is down the stretch.

“Derek has been out since November with a ruptured Achilles tendon,” Plainfield North coach Matt Slechta said. “Just getting him back will make the rest of the team more confident on the court.

“We’re just trying to get more consistency. This was a good test, and we want to be playing well heading into the regional.”