Naperville Central sees gold

The Naperville Central Redhawks boys volleyball team achieved its main goal in Friday's pool play in the Tiger Classic at Wheaton Warrenville South.

After losing star outside hitter Dan Dierking for the season to a knee injury last week, the Redhawks were determined to win both matches in pool play and qualify for today's quarterfinals in the Gold Division.

"We're happy to get into Gold," setter Victor Lei said. "We needed everyone to step up, and it was amazing. We wanted to win both matches with our 'new team,' and we did."

The Redhawks (8-0) opened the day with a 25-15, 25-19 win over Stagg.

"We were aggressive and everything just clicked for us," said Naperville Central coach Bryan Johnwick. "With Dan out we're still working on our lineup, but the guys served well and our attacking was on."

Jimmy Steele was the kill leader with 6, while Ryan Thill had 5 kills and 5 blocks.

Naperville Central had a tougher time with Moeller of Ohio, taking the match 25-19, 19-25, 25-21.

"We played well in the first game, but Moeller came on strong late in the game," Johnwick said. "Their momentum carried over and they pulled out the second game. We made some errors and our outside guys weren't being aggressive. At the end of the match, Steele was taking some big swings for us. We knew it would be a game of momentum shifts and we got on top at the end."

Against Moeller, Alex Whipple led with 11 kills and Matt Warner had 7. Lei dealt out 25 assists and Darren Parker led the team with 13 digs.

"We knew it would be dogfight to get into the Gold Division," Johnwick said. "This is the best tournament in the state with some of the best teams. We're just going to have to take it one match at a time. We're not going to replace Dan. As the season goes on, these guys are going to have to play their game."

He also praised the Redhawks for their great blocking and defense against Moeller.

"Parker got some key digs and our block really started to come together," Johnwick said.

There was one aspect of the Redhawks' two victories that Lei, a four-year starting setter thought was a promising development for the remainder of the season, considering the loss of Dierking.

"Without Dan our offense is more diverse and I'm going to have to spread the sets out to a variety of hitters," Lei said. "I'm getting more comfortable with all the hitters. A lot of guys are settling into their roles. That's what we need to mesh together as a team."

Both Johnwick and Lei were impressed with the work of outside hitters Steele, Warner and Whipple.