Kits Come Back Again, Score Second Straight CSL South Win

Maybe it’s too early in the season to describe them as Comeback Kids.

But the members of Evanston’s young boys volleyball team clearly aren’t fazed by late deficits in a match.

Days after scoring an epic come-from-behind victory over arch-rival New Trier --- beating the Trevians for the first time in 15 years --- the Wildkits carried that momentum over and did it again Monday night at Beardsley Gymnasium.

Trailing Maine South 23-19 late in the decisive third set, Evanston rattled off the last 6 points of the match --- including a pair of ace serves by junior Levi Martin --- to snatch victory from almost certain defeat in a 17-25, 25-23, 25-23 trimming of the Hawks.

Now 8-5 on the season, the Wildkits improved to 2-1 in Central Suburban League South division play and will face division leader Glenbrook North on the road Wednesday in a key matchup as the program fights to climb in the conference standings --- perhaps a year ahead of schedule.

ETHS head coach Stanley Antoine’s squad features only 4 seniors, yet the Kits could be poised to move up in the conference standings after years of second division finishes in a league that features strong programs like New Trier, GBN and Glenbrook South.

A win on the road on Wednesday would certainly make all of Evanston’s rivals in the conference sit up and take notice.

“They drove that comeback themselves tonight,” praised Antoine. “They know that this season is a journey, and that it’s going to take time. But they’re always ready for the next play, even with their backs up against the wall like they were tonight. They didn’t worry about anything else, just (making) the next play.

“We’re in a really impressive conference and 2016 might be the last time we had a winning record in the conference. But we expect to be able to compete with the best, because they put in way too much hard work not to believe in themselves. We’re not where we want to be yet --- but we know we have potential.”

Dillow Malow-Williams, Tyler Tang and Aidan Klein combined for 26 kills in Monday’s comeback effort against Maine South (5-6 overall, 0-3 CSL South). The hosts rallied after a first set in which they never really got untracked.

“Defensively, we were off balance in that first set,” admitted Antoine. “Maine South has a great setter (Amedo Bimbi) and he kept us off balance. We had to focus on the things we could control and we did a better job of that after the first set.

“When we focus on just one point at a time, we play excellent ball as a team. Our focus has to always be on what comes next --- not on what just happened.”

The ability to leave mistakes behind you and make one play at a time is a mental challenge --- just ask any high school coach in any sport what characteristic he’d most like his squad to feature in any competition. The fact that the Wildkits are able to show that determination with so many new varsity players helped them pull through Monday, even though they couldn’t muster much offense in the first set and Maine South was much more efficient than the home team.

That all changed in the last two sets. The Hawks made some mistakes of their own and the Kits pounced on those opportunities, led by the 6-foot-9 Klein. He engineered the turnaround after not notching a single kill in the first set, finishing with a total of 8 on the night.

Antoine described his senior middle hitter as “a generational talent. We’re much more than Aidan, but he’s our big gun and other teams are scouting him to figure out what to do against him. This was one of his best matches even though he’s had more kills (20 in a tournament match against Marist). People are becoming aware of him, but he can do more.”

Evanston led the second set throughout, but allowed the Hawks to creep back within 22-21 on a kill by senior outside hitter Dino Urbain. That’s when the momentum turned back in the hosts’ favor.

The line judge ruled that a hit by South’s Zach Charkawycz traveled outside the antenna on his sideline hit, nullifying a possible score by the losers and instead tacking on a point for ETHS. Klein and Tang then delivered kills, off of feeds by setter Martin, for the winning tallies.

The Kits caught a couple more breaks at the conclusion of the match. When a missed Maine South serve gave Evanston one last chance, Martin stepped to the service line and his first offering trickled off the top of the net and found open floor for an ace that cut the lead to 23-21.

Maine South committed a net violation, and a subsequent hitting error, and then the game of inches showed up again when a long floating serve by Martin found open floor right on the end line without a Hawk defender in the vicinity. Now Evanston led 24-23, and a missed spike attempt by Urbain ended the match.