A little pressure? No problem for Naperville Central
The Naperville Central boys volleyball team relied on high energy and scrappiness on Thursday to overcome a stiff challenge by DeSmet Jesuit of St. Louis in the second match of pool play at the Wheaton Warrenville South Tiger Classic.
The Redhawks pulled out a pair of 25-23 wins over DeSmet to remain undefeated at 8-0 and advance to the championship Gold Division in Saturday's bracket play.
Naperville Central, which was led by Jack Burton's 13 kills, had beaten Oak Park-River Forest earlier to win the pool.
"We don't fold under pressure," Burton said. "We fought through the pressure. Both sets were really close at the end, but we know that if it comes down to it we can rely on every guy to execute on the last points."
The Redhawks started the first game on top 6-0, but then the Spartans gradually fought their way back into it.
DeSmet finally tied it at 17 and then took the lead, which it held through most of the late stages, until a Burton kill put Naperville Central back on top 24-23.
"DeSmet is a good team," said Naperville Central coach Roger Strausberger, "but our unforced errors let them back into it in both sets. We got our energy and confidence back at the end of each set. But we still need to find our consistency."
Early in the second game the two teams played through seven ties and four lead changes, and then the Redhawks pulled ahead 13-10 on a 4-point spree that was their most impressive stretch of the match.
They never gave up the lead.
"During that run it was like, 'yes,' " Burton said. "We were finally executing our plays and everyone was working together. Both games were close, but we were able to make adjustments and come out on top."
Kacper Mazurek had 7 kills for the Redhawks, while Jeremy Parker led in digs with 6 and setter Kevin Prazak dished out 20 assists.
Kevin Ladi led a balanced Spartans attack with 4 kills, while Paul Narup and Chris Vlaich contributed 3 apiece.
"We were a little tired at first from our long trip from St. Louis," said DeSmet coach John Hawkey. "We got in here at 3 p.m. for the 6 o'clock match. But once we settled down and got our feet back under us we began to play more of our game.
"Naperville Central's serves were strong, which made us struggle with our passing. That No. 6 (Burton) on the outside is a special kid. He plays it off the hands so well. And he consistently puts it in the right spots."
DeSmet went on to defeat Oak Park-River Forest to make it to Saturday's Silver Division, while Thursday pool winners Marist, New Trier and Lincoln-Way East join the Redhawks in the Gold Division.