Naperville North prepared for Waubonsie Valley

A challenging early-season schedule is starting to pay dividends for the Naperville North boys volleyball team.

After loading up the first few weeks of the season with top-flight opponents, which produced some expected losses, Naperville North coach Nate Bornancin has the Huskies on something of a roll.

On Wednesday the Huskies won their second match in two nights with a resounding 25-18, 25-11 win over host Waubonsie Valley.

"We knew we would take some hits early," Bornancin said. "But our whole focus was to get the guys ready for the conference season, which we're just getting into."

The grueling schedule brought losses to the likes of Barrington, New Trier, Loyola and Lincoln-Way East.

But the way the Huskies (7-6) have picked it up lately, Bornancin believes they're ready to take on just about anybody.

"Our setters did a good job of spreading the ball around tonight," Bornancin said. "And our servers were aggressive. They were outstanding in challenging the Waubonsie serve-receive. The guys followed our game plan to a T."

While Jack Rothmund and Dan Hill expertly ran the Huskies' 6-2 offense in the first game, Hill, who led with 14 assists, took over and set for all six rotations in the nightcap.

And junior outside Michael Johnson was a menace to the Warriors (6-11) all night, putting down 7 kills and keeping up 5 digs.

"Mike has been working hard, especially in the weight room, and we're seeing his steady all-around improvement," Bornancin said. "He hits a heavy ball and he can attack from any position."

In Game 1 the youthful Warriors stayed with Naperville North and had it tied a 9-9 when the Huskies went on a 7-point run with Casey Hiller serving to break it open.

The sequence was highlighted by a Hiller ace and kills by Patrick Cameli and Kent Lang.

Phil Olszewski led the Huskies in digs with 10 and Lang added 5 kills.

In the second game, which belonged to Naperville North from wire-to-wire, Hiller was like a wall at the net with three big blocks.

"We've been winning because of our energy and our explosiveness," Jennings said. "And our team chemistry is very good."

Waubonsie Valley was led by Nick Spragg with 7 kills and Brandon Pedersen with 5.

"We have a really young team," said Waubonsie Valley coach Al Lagger. "Instead of being aggressive, they're playing not to make mistakes. We're just not executing the way we're supposed to. When North went on that long run we had four sophomores and a freshman in the game."

Lagger sees some progress with his team, but it's often undermined inconsistency and unforced errors. The Warriors made 14 errors in the first game.

"It's easy to get beaten when the other team only has to score 11 points to beat you," Lagger said. "We're taking baby steps, but we'll get there. It's just taking longer than we thought it would."