Glenbard East ready for Naperville North

With a defensive effort that Marci Maier said was one of the best she had seen in a while, Naperville North kept fighting back Tuesday.

But Maier's Glenbard East boys volleyball team showed a resiliency as well in the Rams' 29-27, 25-20 nonconference victory in Lombard.

"I thought Naperville North played some fantastic defense," Maier said. "Everything we put over came back, so props have to go out to them. I'm also extremely proud of my team for weathering the storm. When the ball comes back on great hits, at times a team can get frustrated. I was proud of them for staying the course and continuing to make good swings."

The home team led from the outset of Game 1, extending that margin to 20-16 on a kill by Adrian Cebula. But the Huskies responded by scoring eight of the next nine points, with two kills from Sam Wittwer and a kill and an ace from Derek Amend, to grab a 24-21 lead.

Back came the Rams, tallying three straight points, and the score seesawed from there until Glenbard East prevailed on a couple of Huskies mistakes. Justin Murphy had 6 kills in the game for the home team.

"I've got to give it to our setters, Jake (Eagan) and Mason (Arnold)," Murphy said. "They were putting the ball where it needed to be. And our middles did a great job. I thought we came out strong and did a good job executing. We have a lot of senior returners and a couple of new guys too. We are super deep."

Middle Brandon Banks had 4 kills in Game 2 as the Rams took a 20-12 lead. Naperville North scored the next 5 points, three on kills from Nick Beck, to close to within 3 before ultimately falling short.

The Huskies fell to 3-9 on the season. Wittwer finished with 11 kills and 2 blocks and Beck had 6 kills.

"Glenbard East is a great team," said Naperville North coach Nate Bornancin, whose team has a lot of seniors but lacks varsity experience. "Their program is known for having scrappy teams who keep the ball alive, and we pride ourselves on that too. I thought Connor Sheehan, our libero, had an outstanding match.

"It's a work in progress. We have hung pretty tough with some of the top teams in the area, we just haven't gotten over the hump yet."

Glenbard East, which has lost returning starter Kyle Becker to injury, raised its record to 5-2. Murphy posted 8 kills and Cebula had 3 kills and 5 service points.

"We are looking to be as close to full strength as we can," said Maier, whose team has won the last two Upstate Eight Conference titles in a row. "I'm very happy to be 5-2 especially with the adversity we have faced."