Waukegan junior middle hitter Landon Diaz knew few other people thought it was possible.
The Bulldogs, who had lost nine of their past 10 matches, were on the verge of another defeat on Wednesday. Zion-Benton had won the first game of the North Suburban Conference matchup and led 19-15 in the second game.
“No one believed that we could still come back and win this match but the guys in our huddle,” Diaz said. “We wanted to prove everyone wrong.”
Well, Diaz proved it, finishing with 12 kills and two blocks to lead Waukegan to a 23-25, 25-20, 25-11 victory in front of a large and noisy crowd in the Dog Pound.
“I know things have not been going our way recently, but we proved at the beginning of the season that we have a pretty good team,” Diaz said. “We just needed to right the ship and get our confidence back.
“Hopefully a win like this over our rival will do that for us.”
The 6-foot-4 Diaz righted the ship for the Bulldogs (8-12, 3-1), who started the season with a 6-3 record. He not only dominated at the net against the Zee-Bees (8-11, 2-3), who had won four of their past five matches, but also helped out on defense. Junior libero Bryan Pedraza was unavailable for Waukegan.
“I usually don’t play in the back row very often, but I needed to chip in because we didn’t have Bryan,” Diaz said. “I don’t think I did too bad of a job back there.”
Diaz was also able to power through a few kills from the back row and find ways to get the ball down on Zion-Benton’s side despite not having normal looks at the net.
“That’s the thing about Landon, that he’s such a good athlete and has such control of his body that he can make those kind of plays when the pass or set is not perfect,” Waukegan coach Brennan Pomroy said.
Diaz wasn’t the only player who had the eye of Waukegan junior setter Alex Frias. Seniors Cesar Gonzalez and Jose Leguizamo and sophomore Joshua Biggs combined to give the Bulldogs a balanced offensive attack.
“We want to be a well-rounded team to make us more dangerous,” Pomroy said. “When we are playing at our best, we move the ball to several different hitters.”
The Bulldogs turned the match around during a five-point service run by Gonzalez that gave them a 21-19 lead in the second game. Diaz followed with a kill and a block as Waukegan forced a third game, and that’s when he and Biggs took over at the net.
Waukegan now has conference victories against Zion-Benton, Lake Forest and Mundelein.
“We’ve always been toward the bottom of the conference, but now we are showing that we can be dangerous if teams overlook us,” Diaz said.
Looking further ahead, Diaz wants to continue his volleyball career beyond high school.
“I definitely want to play in college somewhere, even if it’s Division II,” he said. “I think I’m improving with each year, so I will keep trying to get better and see what happens.”
Pomroy said Diaz has that potential.
“He might have to move to the outside in college, but that is something I think he can do without a problem,” Pomroy said. “He has the heart and the ability to have a very special future.”
Darren Day is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
