With the playoffs just around the corner, both the Naperville North and Naperville Central boys’ volleyball teams went into their rivalry match with something to prove. And while Naperville Central walked out of the gym with a tough, three-set win, both teams found good things to take away from the contest.
Naperville Central (31-4, 12-2), which will open the playoffs this week as the No. 1 seed in Hinsdale sectional, was able grit out a come-from-behind win last week after losing the first set against North. In a hard-hitting match on senior night at Naperville North, Central was able to take the final two sets to win the match 21-25, 25-17, 25-18.
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“We went at them hard in games two and three,” said Naperville Central coach Roger Strausberger. “In game one, they had us back on our heels a little bit, and we made a lot of unforced errors. But in game two and three, we got our rhythm and they were the ones making a bunch of errors. So that helped us out.”
Naperville North (15-20, 4-10) showed that it was able to compete with Central — it had the lead at one point in all three games —and was peaking as it enters the playoffs.
“We took a game from them when we played them earlier in the year, and we knew we could play them close,” said Naperville North coach Nate Bornancin. “They’re the top team in the sectional —both their outsides are phenomenal. They’re just so steady. That’s something that we’re trying to do, to play that even-keel, not-get-rattled kind of game.
“Overall I think we played very well,” he said. “I think our serves got away from us in game two. It looked cleaner in game three, and we were able to get our middles going more in game three, but we just made too many errors to get the win.”
With a packed house with fans from both schools, Central scored the first three points of game one because of outside hitters who have been leading the team all season. Senior Jon Chiczewski began with two serving aces, and junior Jack Burton followed with an impressive kill. They would build a 6-2 lead, but North rallied back to cut the lead to two at 12-10. The two teams stayed within two points until North tied the game at 17. A long rally ended with an unforced error by Central to give North its first lead of the game at 18-17. They would never relinquish the lead, and won the final three points to take the game 25-21. North senior middle hitter Kevin Figge and two of his eight kills in the match to help the Huskies seal the game.
In game two, Central once again jumped out to a 3-0 lead. This time the game got a little sloppy, with both teams losing several points on serving errors. But Central was able to increase the lead to 10-5, which prompted a North time out. Afterwards, junior outside hitter Jack Lenert started a rally with a kill, and the Huskies closed the gap to 10-9. The Redhawks led 13-12 when a kill by Burton stared its own rally. Two consecutive double-hits by the Huskies grew the lead to four, and a spectacular defensive save in a long rally grew the lead to five. Central’s run finally ended with a 19-12 lead. The Huskies finished the game with two straight kills by Burton to win 25-17.
In game three, it was North that got off to a fast start with a kill by Figge, a block by senior setter Kevin Romy and an error by Central to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead. They held the lead until a serving error tied the game at 9. It was a one-point game when another serving error by the Huskies gave the Redhawks a 15-13 lead. On the next point, a great dig by senior setter Dan Trembacki led to another point for the Redhawks to open up a three-point lead.
Central would grow the lead to 21-15 before pulling away to win 25-18.
“I know our seniors were trying to make plays, and you could see it out there how badly they wanted it. We wanted it so badly for them,” Bornancin said. “But if we can clean up some errors, I think this game showed what we can do.”
“We’ve had a couple of rough matches, and this was great to get our momentum back,” Strausberger said. “This gives us some energy going into the playoffs.”