WW South defense stands tall

Home runs, dunks and monster spikes are nice, but defense wins championships.

The Wheaton Warrenville South boys volleyball may be loaded with tall hitters, but they can really frustrate opponents with their defense. Tuesday night this defense was at its best as the two-time defending state champions overcame some sloppy serving to sweep Naperville North 25-17, 25-14 to improve to 15-3 overall and 6-1 in the DuPage Valley Conference.

The Tigers did indeed have their usual supply of thunderous kills, but what really made the difference was the defense played on the visitors' side of the net.

"I think a lot of people get misconceptions, because of our height, that we're not going to be able to play real good defense," WW South's 6-foot-10 outside hitter Neill Nystrom said. "But we've got a lot of guys who are strong on defense and it helps a lot."

WW South jumped ahead 10-2 in the opener with Rob Samp and Kevin Mueller each recording blocks and Nystrom putting down one of his 10 kills on the night. But even while missing a trio of serves in the opener and 5 more in Game 2, the Tigers never really were threatened all night because of a defense that kept the Huskies from mounting a consistent attack.

"They're good," Naperville North outside hitter Sam Wilson said of the Tigers. "We tried to hit everything that we could. But their block was tough and their defense was amazing."

WW South setter Joe Kelly had 30 assists but added a pair of kills and a block, while Matt Wilkins paced the winners with 11 digs. The 6-3 Mueller added 5 digs as time and again the Huskies' offense was thwarted by the visitors' defense.

"We've really focused on ourselves more these last couple weeks and we've worked more on our defense," Tigers coach Bill Schreier said. "I'm really excited with the way we've played these last couple weeks. We've been frustrating teams."

Mueller finished off Game 1 with a kill, and the Tigers then broke away from a 7-7 tie in the nightcap with an 18-7 run to complete the sweep. Colin Ball led the Huskies with 4 kills and Shane Witmer and Sam Enright each had 3, but the hosts just couldn't contend with a Tigers team that was clicking on offense and defense.

"They've got great hitters, good setting and great defense," Naperville North coach Roger Strausberger said. "It's no mystery that they're one of the top teams in the state."