New era, or rebirth for Redhawks?

A new era arrived for Naperville Central boys volleyball Monday.

Actually it's the rebirth of an old era, as Bryan Johnwick, who starred for the Redhawks in the mid-nineties, returned to coach his alma mater with plans to build on the team's former glories.

Things started well with a 25-17, 25-23 opening-day win over a young visiting Downers Grove North team that lost eight lettermen to graduation.

"We're looking to bring Naperville Central back as a strong contender for conference and for state," said Johnwick. "I was excited tonight with the team's intensity. They were really hungry to play."

"We're focusing on this being a big year," said middle hitter Matt Yanz. "As we go along, we're going to be setting higher goals. Coach is pushing us to work together and we're playing with more confidence.

Game 1 started with a preview of how the Redhawks plan to emphasize middle hitters Yanz and Mike Brdicka,

Brdicka delivered a message as he put down a pair of emphatic kills on the Trojans for the first 2 points

"We had a game plan at the start," Johnwick said. "We have really strong middles, and if we're passing well we can effectively use their height and skill to open up outside hitting for (Dan) Dierking and (Joe) Thomas."

The Redhawks never trailed as they increased a 12-11 lead to 20-13, led by Yanz, who had 2 blocks and 2 kills in that run. He had 2 more kills at the end of the game.

The Trojans settled down in the second game and led 8-7 before the Redhawks took the lead, which they held until Downers Grove North rallied to tie at 23-23.

Yanz put the match away with a tip-kill and a service ace.

"We tried to get a little bit too fancy near the end," Johnwick said.

"Our passing was definitely amazing, tonight" said Yanz. "We've been working on that a lot. We were communicating on the court and putting the ball down real good."

Yanz led the offense with 8 kills and 3 blocks, Thomas and Brdicka had 5 kills apiece and Brdicka added 3 blocks. Setter Victor Lei had 23 assists.

Outside hitter Jay Petty was the Trojans' main scoring threat with 9 kills, a block and 2 aces.

"We were passing and moving a lot better in the second game and that allowed us to run some options," said Downers Grove North coach Karen Eder. "We're a young team in transition and its going to take us a while to gel and get familiar with how the offense will run. But the boys are learning and improving. I saw some growth and improvement between the first and the second game tonight."

Larkin d. Willowbrook: Brad Potts is entering his third season on the Larkin boys volleyball team, so it's no surprise that he will get most of the sets early on this season.

Potts led the Royals with 7 kills as Larkin beat Willowbrook 25-19, 25-19, in both teams' season-opening match.

"He has a bit more experience under his belt than the other players," said Royals coach Henry Graack. "In tight situations, we'll definitely be looking his way."

Potts had 3 kills in the opening game, including an back-row kill on game point.

In the second game, he added 4 kills.

"I guess you can say that," said Potts about being the key to the Royals' offense. "But we're going to need to spread it out to everyone."

The Warriors scored the first 2 points of the match and led 5-4 before some mistakes became costly as the Royals took a 17-10 lead.

Larkin needed 3 game points to finish off Game 1, which Potts did with a back-row kill.

Trailing 2-1, Larkin went on a 10-0 run. After a Willowbrook service error, the Royals scored 9 points, most on Willowbrook errors.

Allan Rosenburg ended the run with an ace as Larkin led 11-2.

"We just got everyone going," Potts said. "We were getting the serves in and keeping the ball in the court."

Three kills by Dan Cash helped the Warriors get within 16-9. Potts had back-to-back aces later in the game to give the Royals a 21-11 lead.

A Willowbrook hitting error ended the match.

Mike Jetel added 4 kills for the Royals. Rosenburg finished with 3 kills and Brendyn Dobbeck had 18 assists.

"They showed up a little rusty. They didn't match too much in the off-season," Graack said. "After the past two or three days, they were really hustling and the hard work paid off."

Brian Ferguson led the Warriors with 4 kills. Eric McCarthy had 8 digs. Howell Adams finished with 8 assists and 5 digs.

"We're very happy about (getting on the court) because it shows us a lot of things that we need to work on," said Willowbrook coach Diane Vegter.

-- Brian Schaumburg

Baseball

Willowbrook 1, Naperville North 0:ŒThe visiting Warriors (1-0) and complete-game winning pitcher Andy Bejlovec claimed the nonconference victory with a run in the top of the sixth inning.

Dave McKendrick's one-out double set up the run. He moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an overthrow.

Bejlovec threw a 1-hitter with 7 strikeouts and 4 walks to outduel Naperville North (0-1) ace Jake Naumann, who allowed 2 hits, struck out nine, walked four and allowed no earned runs in 6½ innings.