A bit of spring cleaning puts Neuqua Valley past Naperville North
All it took for host Neuqua Valley to make a dramatic comeback against rival Naperville North in boys volleyball was a little spring cleaning.
The cleanup, which started when the Wildcats were down 16-7 in Game 3, entailed getting back to what they were doing in the first two close games, both of which went to extra points.
The Wildcats won the first game 29-27, lost the second 27-25, and then finished with an 18-4 run to beat the Huskies 25-20.
"We had a breakdown of everything that let them go out ahead by 9 points," said first-year Neuqua Valley coach Erich Mendoza. "Our serve-receive was off, we missed serves, missed hits, our passing was bad. We cleaned that stuff up and that's what let us go on a run."
Another factor was the Wildcats' diversified offense as five hitters smashed kills or hit scoring blocks during that surge.
"Every one of our hitters can put the ball down," Mendoza said. "It's hard for them to key on one guy or another. It's great for Sean Harmon, who's a new setter, to know that he can set it to any one of our guys and they'll get a good swing on it and probably a kill."
The Neuqua Valley stat line bears that out. Brian Clark had 6 kills, including a tip for match point and 6 blocks to lead the Wildcats (2-0). The kill leaders were Jake Blackman and Grant Hedrick with 8 apiece, followed closely by Rob Bauer and Collin Adler each with 7. Harmon dished out 23 assists.
"When we were losing in Game 3 we kept our heads up," Clark said. "That was huge. Then we got a few big blocks that got us back in the game. And we made a lot fewer mistakes."
The Wildcats' variety was in sharp contrast to the Huskies, who were led by All-Area outside hitter Jon Bunge, who had 13 kills, 2 blocks and 9 digs, and went up against a double-team all night.
"There are certain situations where Jon has to bail us out," said Naperville North coach Roger Strausberger. "And that's where other guys need to step up. But none of our other guys stepped up tonight. Our offense became predictable. They knew were we were going to go. Losing after you go up 16-7 is the sign of an immature team.
"We folded. We were sloppy in our ball control, defense, blocking and hitting -- everything."
Clark thought that beating Naperville North (0-1) in Neuqua's second game of the season was a huge win.
"Neuqua Valley vs. Naperville North has always been a high-intensity game," Clark said. "Last year we lost to them in the first game, but winning this one hopefully will set the tone for this season. We know their players. A lot of us play on the same club teams. It becomes very heated. I'm just glad we came out on top."
The Wildcats also won last year's playoff showdown in the sectional final, which gave them the opportunity to go to the state tournament.