Witmer takes over for Naperville North

Shane Witmer just took over Naperville North's volleyball match against Addison Trail on Tuesday.

The junior outside hitter put down a match-high 13 kills to lead the Huskies to a 25-20, 25-17 win over the host Blazers in the regional semifinal match.

Fifth-seeded Naperville North will play No. 4 Downers Grove North at 7 p.m. in today's regional final.

"We were getting 1-on-1 on the outside with Shane," said Naperville North coach Nate Bornancin. "And any time that happens, it's good for us."

Addison Trail coach Tom Hubner was impressed by Witmer's ability to put down the impressive kill.

"(Witmer) is a heck of a hitter," Hubner said. "They go to him as often as they can."

Witmer when asked about his big night deflected the praise to his teammates.

"Steve (Massoni) was giving me great sets," Witmer said. "And Danny (Boryca) was digging everything. He's always digging everything. We did a good job blocking. Addison Trail was a scrappy team."

Naperville North seemed to be cruising at 17-9 in Game 1, but they let the Blazers (16-20) back to within 2 points three times before putting the game away.

"We were a little flat tonight," Bornancin said. "We've been off for over a week.

Even though we worked on situations in practice to simulate our opponents, it wasn't the same as playing a real match. That hurt our passing because we lacked concentration at times and we weren't moving our feet well. When you can't pass, you can't run your offense. Fortunately, we played through that and came away with the victory."

Bornancin said the Huskies have been doing a good job this season of finishing teams off once they established a lead. But on Tuesday they hit a little lull and Addison Trail took advantage of it.

In Game 2 the Huskies took control and built up a double-digit lead, which allowed Bornancin to play his reserves at the end of the game.

Massoni had 17 assists and Boryca came up with 12 digs for the Huskies.

Ryan Merkel led the Blazers with 9 kills, while Armin Trgo and Vince Ramirez dug out 11 balls each.

"We never got into tempo," Hubner said. "I think we were a little nervous. We made some mistakes that we've been making all year. Naperville North is a quality team and you can't give them easy points."