Naperville North wins Bison Battle
It’s never easy at the Bison Battle.
The season-opening invitational at Buffalo Grove annually attracts some of the state’s best volleyball teams, and this year was no exception with perennial championship contenders Wheaton Warrenville South (state champs four of the last six years), Glenbrook North, Sandburg, Barrington and the host Bison in the field.
That made Saturday’s victory by Naperville North all the more impressive.
The Huskies swept through the field into the title match, and defeated Buffalo Grove 25-23, 18-25, 25-22 in a tense championship match to win the crown.
“Last year here, we fell a little bit short,” said Naperville North opposite Henry Cheatham. “We came out this year and proved that we’re a force to be reckoned with.
“We wanted to send a message that we’re here to stay. We were missing one of our key guys today (outside hitter Spencer Sauter), so it’s nice to know that everyone was able to play together and pick up the slack.”
“We did play very well as a team,” said North assistant Courtney Ashley, who guided the Huskies to victory in the absence of head coach Nathan Bornancin, who was away. “It was nice to see us play so well against tough competition, especially in pressure situations.”
North outside hitter Shane Witmer swatted 24 kills against host Buffalo Grove while setter Steve Massoni added 34 assists, but BG coach Matt Aiello wasn’t too upset with the title-match loss.
The Bison defeated Lincoln Park, Lake Zurich and Glenbrook North while losing to WW South in pool play and advanced to the finals on a tiebreaker.
“Our goal today wasn’t to come away with a plaque, although that would have been nice,” said Aiello. “We played pretty good volleyball all day, and our losses were mostly due to us giving away points. With the caliber of teams here, we’ll take this experience into the regular season and prepare for hopefully another sectional win.”
Aiello had nothing but praise for junior middle Michael Starzec, who was on varsity last year as a sophomore but didn’t get much playing time.
“I thought Michael had a fantastic day,” said Aiello. “He showed that he’s a player and not just here to fill a void. His blocking was great and his hitting was great, and his emergence is going to make us even more dangerous in the long run.”
WW South finished with 4 wins in 5 matches, falling only to Glenbrook North, while Barrington started strong with invite wins over Sandburg, Hersey and Prospect.
Broncos coach Rob Ridenour was especially impressed with the play of setter Taylor Ganzer.
“Taylor played very well today,” said Ridenour. “I think he has really solidified himself at the position.”