Seniors lead Naperville North past Naperville Central

A win over its cross-town rival was exactly what Naperville North needed.

After a disappointing two-game loss Tuesday night to Wheaton Warrenville South, the Huskies bounced back at home against Naperville Central Thursday evening, winning 25-18, 25-20 to move to 3-1 in the DuPage Valley Conference.

Naperville North coach Nathan Burnancin saw a better effort from his team behind the leadership of his seniors.

“After the loss on Tuesday, we had a seniors-only meeting,” Burnancin said. “We felt like we hadn’t progressed enough to where we’d like to be at this point in the season. To come out and win against our cross-town rivals after splitting with them last year is a step forward. I felt like we could play much better tonight.”

The first game saw the Huskies score 19 of their 25 points off Naperville Central (5-10, 0-4) errors, something coach Jeff Danborn knows his young Redhawks squad will have to clean up as the season progresses.

“We have errors from different guys at different times,” Danborn said. “We’re not consistent at minimizing those errors right now. There’s times where we’ll make a nice defensive play but then serve the ball out of bounce. Right now our goals are to be more consistent and minimize those types of errors.”

The second game saw a more balanced Naperville North (11-4, 3-1) attack up front as three different players combined for six kills in a stretch that turned a 9-9 tie into a 15-11 lead.

Shane Whitmer led the Huskies with 6 kills, but the Huskies also had strong performances offensively from Henry Cheatham, Ryan Loughlin, Adam Souhrada and Tony Leon.

“To get 5 kills out of Ryan (Loughlin) and another 3 out of Tony (Leon), it shows we were finding the middle,” Burnancin said. “It’s not just the Shane Whitmer show, even though that’s a great show.

“Shane’s going to get his kills because he’s a great player,” Burnancin added. “But other guys are stepping up and getting their kills as well.”

Steve Massoni led the Huskies with 23 set assists, while libero Danny Buryca led the way defensively with 12 digs.

“We came out fired up, kept our composure and made our kills when we needed them,” Buryca said.

Zach Madsen led Naperville Central with 6 kills while Connor Cunningham and Sarvesh Somisetty each had 5 kills apiece. Albert Lei finished with 32 assists while libero Nirmal Desai had 10 digs.