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Neuqua Valley enjoys victory against Larkin

Neuqua Valley didn't have much fun in its boys volleyball season opener last week, but the Wildcats turned things around on Larkin and had some fun Tuesday night in Naperville.

In that opening loss to Naperville North, the Wildcats struggled with their passing and never seemed to get on track. Against the Royals, in a 25-11 25-17 win Tuesday night, the passing was much improved and some nasty serving made Larkin (0-2) the team that struggled to get on track.

"It was basically a reverse of what happened to us against North. Against North we couldn't pass to save our lives," Wildcats outside hitter Austin Neace said after his team notched its first win of the young season. "This game we passed very well which kept us on top, and then we got some good serves in that got them out of system."

With their passing game on, and Neace and his teammates rattling off tough serve after tough serve, the Royals fell behind 13-5 in Game 1 and never stood a chance. Neace, who sat out all of the second game, had 3 kills and 5 aces in the opener.

"It was nice to play them and get a win after getting beat pretty badly by Naperville North," said Neace, who will now lead the team into the competitive tourney at Wheaton Warrenville South, with pool play beginning Wednesday. "It's a confidence booster going into the tournament tomorrow. Especially in serve receive. If you think you're going to do it well most of the time you'll get a better pass than when you're scared. You have to want them to serve it at you to get a good pass."

Middle Brian McKissick paced the Wildcats with 8 kills in the match, including the victory-clinching slam off a feed from Jack Dentzman, who had 10 assists on the night. Neuqua has its share of tall, heavy hitters, but it always comes down to the passing.

"We know we have the hitters if we just have decent passing we can get a good kill out of it," Wildcats coach Erich Mendoza said. "It doesn't have to be perfect all the time. But tonight I was pleased with the passing. It was much better than it was against North."

For Larkin, Thomas Hendershott, Abel Saenz, Angel Rivera and Alejandro Meza each recorded 2 kills. But difficulties with handling the Neuqua serve made for a long night.

"When you've got a team of six solid servers it just puts more pressure on your passers to be more consistent," first-year Larkin coach Jason Yeates said. "The passers have to be efficient the whole time."

Even so, the Royals coach liked the fight he saw in his team.

"The positive is the amount of hustle we put in … when we play against a stronger opponent we just don't give up. Regardless of what the score dictates or what the other team is doing, we've got to take care of our side of the net. We did a pretty good job of that," he said.

  Brian McKissick of Neuqua gets ready to hit one into Larkin territory during the Larkin at Neuqua Valley boys volleyball game Tuesday. Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
  Angel Rivera spikes the ball at Aaron McKinley of Neuqua during the Larkin at Neuqua Valley boys volleyball game Tuesday in Naperville. Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
  Thomas Hendershott of Larkin goes for the block during the Larkin at Neuqua Valley boys volleyball gameTuesday. Paul Michna/pmichna@dailyherald.com
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