Boys volleyball: After tight first set, WW South pulls away in second to sweep Wheaton North, improve to 24-2 and take DuKane lead
In this season of DuKane Conference boys volleyball, there are Wheaton Warrenville South, Wheaton North and everyone else. So the stakes when the Tigers hosted the Falcons on Tuesday couldn’t have been higher.
But the seven-time state champion Tigers were a 2025 state quarterfinalist for a reason. Although the Falcons were ready to play at the start, it eventually became clear it was the Tigers’ night as they won in straight sets, 28-26, 25-12.
The first set lived up to the billing as Wheaton Warrenville South (24-2, 4-0) and Wheaton North (20-3, 3-1) traded four-point rallies in the early part. Later, they had rallies of five and four points, respectively.
It was inevitable that this set would go past 25 points for both teams, and they also both held off set points. Finally, a three-point Tigers rally gave them the set after they trailed, 26-25.
The second set had a completely different feel as the Falcons didn’t have any energy left from the first set. None of their rallies lasted longer than two points, whereas the Tigers had four rallies of at least three points. The longest of those went on for six points, silencing the Falcons fans in attendance.
“I thought in the second set, we really kind of elevated our level of play,” said Tigers coach Bill Schreier. “And I'm very impressed for them to be able to go ahead and do that at that juncture in a big moment against a quality opponent.”
Tigers captain and senior outsider hitter Simon Bratt will continue his volleyball career at Manhattan next season, and he showed why with nine aces and 13 kills. The future mechanical engineering major was honored before the match for recently becoming Illinois’ all-time leader in kills and aces, much to the delight of his teammates and the home crowd. Wheaton North also engaged in polite applause.
“It's a lot of pressure,” Bratt said. “And I know a lot of people have big expectations for me. So I need to know to stay within myself and what I'm capable of and execute as hard and efficient as I can.”
Wheaton Warrenville South senior Marko Polovina had four kills and an ace, sophomore Liam Noonan contributed three kills, and junior Evan Kantowski achieved two aces. Freshmen Ryan Sweeney and Matthew Burkly both contributed 10 sets.
Falcons senior outside hitter Aidan Syswerda had a team-high seven kills along with one ace. Senior outside hitter Peter Dey tied junior middle blocker Will Biagini with three kills and also led the Falcons with two aces.
“Credit to Wheaton Warrenville South,” said Wheaton North coach John Noe IV. “Kept the pressure on us. Really forced us to score all of our points. They didn't give us many errors. They made it very challenging to kind of come out of that early hole that we dug ourselves in.”
After the pregame Bratt ceremony, Tigers JV middle hitter Tristan Lux sang the national anthem.
“Did a nice job,” Schreier said of Lux.