Naperville Central falls to Glenbrook North

The Tiger Classic is an early season boys volleyball tournament that features some of the top teams in the state.

Coaches like the tournament because it gives them the chance to find out about their teams against top-flight competition.

And often the coaches find out some things that don't necessarily make them happy.

Second-seeded Naperville Central opened pool play Friday against first-seeded Glenbrook North and the Spartans jumped out the a 4-0 lead in Game 1 and took care of the Redhawks 25-20, 25-20.

"We didn't play well in any aspects of the match," said Naperville Central coach Bryan Johnwick. "We need to work on everything."

In that first game the Redhawks (4-4) closed the gap to two points several times early, but the Spartans (5-2), utilizing a variety of offensive weapons, sound defense and effective passing were able to restore leads of four, five and six points.

"Once our team gets itself in a rut, we can't get ourselves out," Johnwick said. "Glenbrook North was consistent the whole match."

"Our passing was all over the place," said outside hitter Alex Povejsil, who led the Redhawks with 6 kills. "And we didn't have enough intensity. Getting off to a slow start put us in the dumps. We felt the pressure of falling behind."

To their credit the Redhawks got back to within 2 points twice late in the set, but the Spartans outscored them 4-1 down the stretch.

Naperville Central led the second game early on, but after several ties the Spartans took the lead for good at 12-11.

"With this group it will take a little while, "Johnwick said. "I hope we can regroup after this."

Jack Preis led the Spartans with 9 kills and libero Jonny Bulwa came up with 8 digs.

"We're not one of the bigger teams out here, so we have to vary our attack," said Glenbrook North coach Chris Cooper. "We work on trying to spread the ball around to a lot of offensive guys. We don't have the big bangers. We like to tool the block, hit roll shots, tip and do a lot of things to keep our errors down. The guys feed off our defensive energy and that frustrates opponents."

The Redhawks (4-4) bounced back in their second match to defeat Oak Lawn 25-19, 25-20.

"The guys made adjustments," Johnwick said. "We passed better and limited our errors."

Of the seven DuPage Valley Conference teams at The Classic, hosted by Wheaton Warrenville South, only the Tigers start Saturday's knockout-round play in the Gold Division.

Naperville Central, Lake Park and Naperville North all split their matches on Friday and join York, which did the same Thursday, in the Silver Division on Saturday.

Waubonsie Valley and Wheaton North will play in the Bronze Division on Saturday.