NV halts North Stars' rally

The Neuqua Valley boys volleyball team had to finish things on a strong note.

After almost letting the lead slip away in the first game and allowing St. Charles North to take the second game, the Wildcats dominated the third game and remained undefeated after beating the North Stars, 25-21, 21-25, 25-16 in an Upstate Eight Conference match in Naperville Tuesday.

"Game 3 was much more indicative of how we play," Neuqua Valley coach Erich Mendoza said. "That's nothing against St. Charles North. If we would have played that way in Game 1, it wouldn't have gone to a Game 3."

With Neuqua Valley (4-0, 2-0) leading 21-13 in the first game, the North Stars (2-1, 1-1) rallied behind the serving of BYU-bound Rusty Lavaja. A Collin Adler kill stopped the rally, but St. Charles North got as close as 24-21 behind a kill from Austin Collingborne. The game ended with Rob Bauer's kill.

"The first game was a lot of nerves because this was our first big, solid matchup," St. Charles North coach Brad Mitchell said. "I think we were a little nervous…We were still getting into the flow. I think that brought some momentum going into the second game."

After breaking a 5-5 tie, the North Stars took control of Game 2. They led by as much as 16-11, but the Wildcats got within 22-21 after a Jake Blackman kill. St. Charles North, however, capped the game with the final three points, including a game-ending kill from Tyler Hoerner.

"We were stuck in a rut," Mendoza said. "Every time we came closer…we couldn't push it over. I was expecting us to."

Neuqua Valley led the entire third game after jumping out to a 5-1 lead. It started to pull away in the middle of the game, thanks to five consecutive points for a 13-7 advantage. St. Charles North never got back into the game and finished with 11 errors in the final game.

"There are good losses and there are bad losses," Mitchell said. "This was an OK loss. I don't like losses, but it's something we can learn from."

Baseball

Batavia 10, Rochelle 0: Jordan Coffey fired a perfect game, facing the minimum 15 hitters in the Bulldogs' 5-inning win.

Coffey (2-0) had 7 strikeouts. Mike Sentman saved the perfect game with a diving stop.

Mike Maloney started Batavia's 5-run third inning by scoring from first base on a hit by Alex Beckmann. Brian Krolikowski doubled and Tim Drish homered.

Girls soccer

Kaneland 2, Morris 1:ŒThe Knights evened their record at 1-1 with goals by Megan Gil and Colleen Gebauer.