Naperville North stuns WW South
As the sixth-seeded team in the IMSA sectional, the Naperville North boys volleyball team was a long shot to make it to the state tournament.
But on Tuesday the Huskies punched their ticket to state by completing a sweep of the top three seeds with a 25-21, 22-25, 25-23 over first-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South for the sectional championship. The Huskies had beaten Downers Grove North and Downers Grove South in their last two tournament matches.
It was the first time the Huskies (28-11) had beaten the Tigers (36-3) in four tries this year.
Naperville North will face Oak Park-River Forest at 1 p.m. Friday in the state quarterfinals at Hoffman Estates.
“This is the greatest feeling in the world just beating Wheaton because they’re a great team,” said Naperville North libero Danny Boryca, who came up with 17 digs. “And we’re going to state. We couldn’t ask for more.”
“These last few matches, we’re playing the way we knew we could,” said Shane Witmer, who led the Huskies with 11 kills, 4 blocks and 7 digs. “We knew it would take a good match to beat them and we played well. “
In the first game on Tuesday, both teams were spectacular, keeping everything in play, returning the hardest shots and matching each other point for point through most of the match.
There were 14 ties and five lead changes before the Huskies took the lead for good at 17-16 on a Witmer kill. He followed with an ace that created the first 2-point lead of the game.
Wheaton Warrenville South kept a lead through most of Game 2 and it was ahead 21-16 when the Huskies mounted a comeback and threatened to end the match in two games when they tied the score at 22-22.
But a dramatic kill by the Tigers’ Eric Luhrsen and a couple of Huskies errors sent the match to three games.
This time the Huskies were out ahead through most of the game, building a 5-point lead. But it was the Tigers’ turn to come back as they took the lead at 17-16 on an ace by Thomas Jaeschke.
The Huskies regained the edge until it was tied again at 23-23 on a kill by Michal Stefanski of the Tigers. But Naperville North held on and won 25-23.
“We battled back and fell a little bit short,” said Wheaton Warrenville South coach Bill Schreier. “But Naperville North had something to do with that. They played well. In Game 3 we let them go on an early run and they were keeping the ball in play. Naperville North is meeting expectations now, and that’s what it’s all about.”
Luhrsen led the Tigers with a match-high 15 kills and 6 digs. Jaeschke had 11 kills, 3 aces and 8 digs. David Priest had 37 assists.
For Naperville North, Henry Cheatham had 7 kills and Ryan Loughlin added 5. Steve Massoni registered 30 assists.
“We got into a rhythm a few weeks ago in a match against Glenbard East on senior night,” said Naperville North coach Nate Bornancin. “It was the first time all season we had our entire lineup on the floor. We weren’t supposed to win these past three matches, so it would be great if we could keep on rolling. We have that attitude that no one is going to stop us.”