Naperville North shows finishing touch

One of the lessons a boys volleyball team needs to learn is how to finish off games.

During Tuesday's DuPage Valley Conference match, host Naperville North started slowly, dropping the first game 25-22, but found a way to finish off Naperville Central 25-22 in Game 2 and 25-21 in the decisive third game.

"We've definitely been in a position where we've needed to finish some matches strong this year," Huskies coach Roger Strausberger said. "We had that tonight with things tight in Game 2 and Game 3 and I was proud of how hard the guys played."

Naperville North improved to 8-6 overall and 3-0 in conference play while Naperville Central dropped to 9-5 and 1-2.

"One thing I was happy with was that we played hard all three games," Redhawks coach Bryan Johnwick said. "We sort of broke down in the third game, but Naperville North is a very good team. I was proud with how we played and we're still early in the season."

The opening game proved to be a nail-biter, with neither squad building a lead of more than 3 points. The Redhawks ultimately took control of the game after the teams were knotted at 20-20. The visitors erased a 20-16 deficit late in Game 2, but after three late ties, the Huskies put the game away thanks to a net violation and a hitting error.

"We started to step up big-time," Huskies outside hitter Sam Wilson said. "We had been making some errors that we'd make on JV, and we realized we couldn't make them at this level."

On a night when lengthy scoring runs were at a minimum, the Huskies were thrilled to jump ahead 5-1 in Game 3, riding the jump serve of junior John Burkhardt.

"In the first game I had a few errors and just had to get my confidence back," Burkhardt said. "I just wanted to redeem myself and hit it between their zones."

The early lead didn't last too long as the Redhawks fought their way back to tie things up at 12-12.

"We've talked about how in boys volleyball you have to be more aggressive than the other team," Strausberger said. "I thought we were aggressive and able to finish the match off."

The teams would last be tied at 16-16. After leading 1-0 the Redhawks would never again lead in the final game as Wilson, Shawn Witmer, Colin Ball Miguel Cavillo paced the Huskies to the victory.

"After the first game we just wanted to stay positive, get some points in a row and get the next game," Burkhardt said. "We knew we had the home court and we used the crowd to boost us and get that last game."