Boys volleyball: Wheaton rivals roll into sectional championship match
Saturday afternoon's boys volleyball sectional semifinals at Larkin could have easily been billed as a twinbill between a pair of high schools from Wheaton (Wheaton Warrenville South and Wheaton North) against a pair of high schools from Rockford (Auburn and Guilford) to determine who would move on to Tuesday's final.
When it was all said and done the Wheaton schools each earned 2-0 sweeps to face each other for a second time Tuesday evening on Elgin's West Side.
WW South (33-3) beat North at home in 2 sets last month to earn the DuPage Valley Conference title.
WW South D. Auburn, 25-7, 25-20: The Tigers aced their test thanks to a solid mixture of raw power blended in with both serving prowess as well as a strong presence at the net in Saturday's opening bout.
Led by senior Simon Bratt's 4 straight aces, WW South had complete control of the first set. The Manhattan recruit also added a trio of blocks, 2 kills, 1 assist, and 1 dig in the opening game as the Tigers got off to early leads of 5-0, 8-1, and 14-2 and never looked back.
"It's really about practice and how much practice makes perfect," said Bratt, who ended with 6 aces, 5 kills, and 4 blocks.
The second set saw the Knights (24-17), who entered the game having won 12 of their last 17, battle back from an early deficit to take a 20-19 lead.
After WW South regained the lead at 21-20, Auburn had the potential game-tying point wiped out due to a net violation that allowed the Tigers to continue on a match-winning 6-0 run.
Wheaton North d. Guilford, 25-20, 25-13: Thanks to a dominant late-game performance by 6-foot-6 senior Aidan Syswerda, the Falcons (34-5) were able to make it past the NIC-10 champion Vikings in this semifinal clash.
Syswerda connected on 3 of his 5 game one kills after Guilford (26-2) had rallied to within 21-19, enabling the Falcons to pull away.
Game two saw the Lewis recruit Syswerda (11 kills, 3 blocks, 1 ace, 1 dig) help bolt the Falcons out of the gate with a kill triple, a block and an ace that had North off to a 12-2 advantage. The Falcons wouldn't relinquish the lead as they earned their 13th consecutive win while ending the Vikings’ 18-game win streak.
"Guilford us a great team. What we honed in on was playing as a team," Syswerda said. "We've been peaking at the right time. Our team showed up and everyone contributed."