Naperville North ousts Willowbrook
One of the perks of any high school postseason is that if you lost to a team during the regular season, there’s always a chance you will face them in the postseason.
And a victory this time around has a bigger prize.
The Naperville North boys volleyball team, seeded sixth in the IMSA sectional, dispatched 11th-seeded Willowbrook 25-14, 25-15 on Tuesday to advance to today’s Hinsdale South regional final at 4:30 p.m. against third-seeded Downers Grove North.
The Trojans, who beat the hosts 24-26, 25-18, 25-13 also on Tuesday to advance, prevailed over the Huskies in April at the Downers Grove South Invitational.
“They’re a good team. It’s definitely us wanting payback with them having beat us,” Naperville North senior Henry Cheatham, who led his team’s attack with 9 kills, said.
Naperville North improved to 25-11 overall. And since a comeback win on senior night May 12 against Glenbard East, coach Nathan Bornancin has liked what he has seen from the team.
“We’re playing much better. That night was a turning point,” he said.
Bornancin added that the Huskies were flat in Game 1, losing 25-19. But they dominated the following two games, 25-14 and 25-18. And the momentum has been building from there. The win over the Rams stopped a three-match losing streak and started a three-match winning streak.
In Game 1 on Tuesday, the Warriors answered point for point against the Huskies up until the score was tied 4-all. A kill by North’s Shane Witmer put his team up 5-4. That started a 10-4 run by Naperville North that was capped by another Witmer kill to make it 15-8 and Willowbrook (23-14) never seriously threatened after that.
Willowbrook coach Diane Vegter said for her team to have had a chance against the Huskies, it couldn’t dig itself early holes in games.
“We needed to stay right with them. When we beat Glenbard East, we matched point for point,” she said.
The Warriors dispatched the Rams, a fifth seed in the IMSA sectional, 21-25, 25-21, 25-21 on May 14 to win their own Willowbrook Invite.
The Warriors put up a bigger fight in Game 2 with the Huskies not earning a double-digit lead until late. A kill by Naperville North’s Matt Jennings had his team up 13-6. A 5-0 run by Willowbrook cut the lead to two.
Later the Huskies led by as much as 16-11, but a block by Willowbrook’s Jacob Schmiegelt, put his team to within 17-14. Naperville North then closed out the game with an 8-1 run.
The Warriors’ attack was led by Billy Iacono witth 7 kills. A good portion of the Willowbrook roster returns next year with seven current juniors and a sophomore expected back, giving Vegter optimism about 2012.
“We got a lot of good experience this season,” she said.
For Naperville North, setter Steve Massoni had 22 assists and 6 digs. Libero Danny Boryca had 8 digs.
“For the majority of the games, we got our offense going and our hitters moving on the floor,” Bornancin said.