Boys volleyball: Naperville North celebrates first victory of the season
The Naperville North boys volleyball team celebrated its first win of the season in a manner befitting a playoff game.
After losing the first set to Downers Grove South on Thursday, the Huskies stormed back to post an 18-25, 25-18 and 26-24 victory in nonconference action.
Seconds after Chandler Olson's ace secured the comeback win, the Huskies (1-0) darted toward the nearest corner of the gym for a mass celebration with their two lower-class teams.
"Our fan section was really here for us, from JV to freshmen, and they really cheered us on," Naperville North senior outside hitter John Jaworski said. "They carried us through that last set to help us win. Downers Grove South is a really good team."
The Huskies received 7 kills from Jaworski, while Henry Zhou added 6 and Dillon Bramlett had 5. Setter Connor Wojcik sat out the final two points due to a head injury, but he managed to tally 24 assists and 9 digs.
"We've played Downers Grove South many times over the years and they match up well and the games are always close," Naperville North coach Nathan Bornancin said. "It was a great battle at the end, and the guys dug dig. I thought Connor did a great job spreading the ball around. For our first match of the season, we did some things well. We definitely have to clean some things up defensively. But they played hard and were communicating."
The Mustangs were paced by 10 kills from Connor Grabs and 9 kills from Brandon Parks. Jack Tischler had 9 digs and Dominic Fallara tallied 4 aces.
The Mustangs (2-1) beat Wheaton Warrenville South and Downers Grove North in their first two matches but couldn't put away the Huskies.
"We've always gone three (sets) it seems with Naperville North," Downers Grove South assistant coach Tony Nevrly said. "We love playing against them. We know what type of team we have. We're going to pass the ball well and going to attack and spread the ball out and go as fast as we can this year."
In the third game the Huskies pulled away 11-7, but Downers Grove South stormed back to seize a 13-12 lead following a kill by Grabs. The Huskies came back to take leads of 18-16 and 24-21, but the Mustangs tied the game at 24-24 following kills by Grabs and Chris Cossyleon.
But the Mustangs committed a service error and Olson added the match point with his ace.
"We started off with the jitters," Jaworski said. "Our serves were off and we weren't aggressive at the net. Our blocking was weak, but as the game progressed, everything seemed to start going well for us and that picked us up."