Both the first and second sets in Beardsley Gym on Tuesday night were tied, 24-all.
That didn’t scare any Wildkit player on the court.
With Maine South (6-4, 0-2 CSL) knocking at the door, Evanston (9-4, 1-1 CSL) channeled their clutch veins and found a way to close out both sets, defeating the Hawks, 26-24, 29-27. Senior Dillon Malow-Williams paced the Kits with 10 kills and put the finishing touch on the straight-set victory.
“When it comes down to it, our effort and passion are a lot higher than other teams,” Malow-Williams stated. “We played well [tonight], and over the weekend, we were down a bunch of players and only lost by 5-6 points in a set. Playing [good teams]– it doesn’t scare us.”
Down senior Tyler Tang due to injury, head coach Stanley Antoine called on juniors Oscar Gutierrez and Diego Dailey to step up alongside junior Kaloyan Mirtchev, and Malow-Williams, and seniors Tyler Stern and Dillon Barnes. Even with different lineup combinations and younger talent on the court, the Kits didn’t miss a beat.
“The new guys just took it into their own hands. As long as they know what they’re doing on the court, that’s all that matters,” Malow-Williams said. “It’s six guys working together to keep the ball off the floor. We have a lot of adaptable guys which is important.”
The first set was back-and-forth until Maine South called a timeout with Evanston up, 19-16. The Hawks jumped out of the short break and tied the set up multiple times before Barnes’ kill gave the Kits momentum up, 23-22, allowing Evanston to eke out the set victory.
The second set appeared to be in Evanston’s favor as the Kits extended their lead to 13-10, but Maine South stormed back and responded with an 8-2 run off of a couple of Evanston missed serves and five Hawk kills.
“We lacked discipline on our defense. That and transitioning were what our coaches harped on us about,” Malow-Williams stated.
After two Malow-Williams kills and two long rallies that ended in two Mirtchev kills, the Kits found themselves tied with the Hawks at 22. Evanston had their first match point up 25-24, but Mirtchev sailed his serve long and gave Maine South a match point of their own after a Hawks kill. But after a couple of back-and-forth points, Stern and Malow-Williams sent Maine South packing with two kills to seal the 29-27 set victory.
Evanston will take on Deerfield next Tuesday on the road before a battle with Stanford commit David Wolff and New Trier next Thursday in Beardsley.
“[David] is going to be a big guy to look out for. We need to stay disciplined on defense,” Malow-Williams said. “If we can nail that down, I’m sure we’ll be fine next week.”
