Lincoln-Way East’s Jake Snyder clutched the second-place state trophy with all his might Saturday night.
Standing in the postgame handshake line with his teammates, Snyder readjusted his grip to get a better hold on the precious cargo.
Minutes earlier, the Griffins fought valiantly in forcing a third game, but saw the state championship match slip away with a 25-21, 20-25, 25-16 loss to powerhouse Glenbard West.
Senior outside hitter Robert Murphy tallied five of his team-high 10 kills in the third game as Glenbard West (41-1) won to its third straight state title.
Snyder, one of four transfers from Lincoln-Way North due to the district closing the school, had 41 assists in the loss. He praised the Hilltoppers afterward.
“Glenbard West is a great team,” Snyder said. “I think it’s an accomplishment to take them to three. I think we could’ve beaten them, but overall, we played well and can hold our heads (high).”
East (34-8) fell victim to service errors and could not stop Murphy, who had three straight kills to hand the Hilltoppers a 7-3 lead in Game 3 that they would not relinquish.
Glenbard West has compiled an 122-3 record during its three-year title streak, while the Griffins defeated New Trier and Lake Park in their two state matches to collect the program’s third state trophy.
Senior outside Jason Szara had 11 kills for the Griffins, but said Glenbard West’s overall strength overwhelmed the Griffins in Game 3. Ian Piet paced East with 13 kills and Mike Fowler added 10 digs.
“Glenbard West is a fantastic team,” Szara said. “The hard thing for us is we showed we could hang with them but once you go down two or three points, it’s hard to come back.”
Lincoln-Way East coach Kris Fiore, who guided the Griffins to the state title in 2014, said his team started meshing together near midseason.
“The kids felt a lot of pressure because East is traditionally a strong program and North is as well,” Fiore said. “They think, since they are combined, we have to be terrific with this all-star team. There was a lot of pressure. We had to kind of figure things out.
“They battled against a phenomenal Glenbard West team that just made some key plays that turned the momentum of the game and got off to a quick start. And it’s tough to make big runs on such a talented team.”
In the third-place game, Lake Park defeated Brother Rice for the third time this season with a 20-25, 25-22, 25-22 win.
Jimmy Baker led with 11 kills and Dan Littleton added 10 as the Crusaders (31-11) earned the second state trophy in program history. Matt O’Donnell added 32 assists and Tom Kleist had 11 digs.
The Crusaders showed little remorse after their second loss of the day. They nearly knocked off Glenbard West in the semifinals. The Hilltoppers pulled out a 21-25, 25-20, 25-22 win.
Kyle Springer had 12 kills, Joe Kenzinger added 11 and Baker and Ryan Banky each had 10 for the Crusaders in the semifinals. O’Donnell delivered 42 assists and Kleist had nine digs.
“We played so well against Glenbard West,” Brother Rice coach Dan Dwyer said. “We felt that was the state championship the way we played. It was a knock-down, drag-out brawl. It just didn’t go our way.”
Bob Narang is a freelance writer for the Daily Southtown.
