Naperville N. prevails at BG

The teams at Saturday's Bison Battle boys volleyball tournament looked more like a state finals field than an early season tourney lineup.

Sandburg, defending state champ Wheaton Warrenville South, Glenbrook North, Naperville North and BG all have legitimate title hopes, with Schaumburg and Hersey possibly just a step or two behind.

And when all was said and done, it was Naperville North and outside hitter Jon Bunge with a huge performance in the title match.

Bunge (11 kills) was unstoppable in Game 2 as the Huskies, who went 2-1 in pool play and got to the championship by virtue of tiebreakers, defeated Glenbrook North 25-16, 25-19 to claim the crown.

Glenbrook North had not dropped a game up until that point.

"You just get caught up in the moment," said Bunge after the Huskies' inspired performance. "This is awesome. It wasn't just me -- it was the whole team that stepped up."

Naperville North's only blemish on the day was a first-match loss to host BG in pool play.

BG, North and Schaumburg all finished 2-1 in the Blue Pool while Glenbrook North swept through the orange pool undefeated with wins over Sandburg, Wheaton Warrenville South and Hersey.

The Saxons enjoyed a successful tourney with big wins over Buffalo Grove (25-23) and North Chicago.

Schaumburg senior outside hitter Kyle Aragon had 14 kills against Naperville North and 9 in the match versus BG, while setter Mitch Wiskirchen was 50-of-51 with 21 assists against the Bison and Connor Nelson was 9-of-9 on serve receive.

"I thought we played some great volleyball today," said Schaumburg coach Kyle Reid. "We had some questions about where our team was at before this tournament, but we answered those questions. With this level of competition, we showed that we can play with anyone."

Hersey had the unenviable task of opening the season with three straight matches against top-10 ranked teams Glenbrook North, Sandburg, and Wheaton Warrenville South.

Hersey wasn't able to claim any victories against that trio, but came back to win their finale over North Chicago 25-15, 25-14.

"I thought we played well," said Hersey coach Jodi Blazek. "We were competitive in all of our matches. I like playing against this type competition -- you get to see what your team is all about."

Before the tourney started, many thought the championship match would pit Buffalo Grove, from the Blue Pool against Wheaton Warrenville South from the Orange Pool.

They did face off against each other, but as third-place teams in each respective division. The Tigers came out on top in two games.

Boys gymnastics

Palatine openly admits that its boys gymnastics depth pales in comparison to the team of a year ago that won a state championship.

The Vic Avigliano Mustang Gymnastics Invitational offers a unique structure where each team has six gymnasts each perform in one only event. With all-around standouts Matt Eckardt and Andre Gatorano on the sidelines for most of the day, Palatine showed that its depth is better than advertised.

The Pirates won the meet Saturday at Rolling Meadows for the second straight year led by Gatorano, who took first on floor while posting a career-best 9.6.

Eckardt took second on parallel bars with a 9.1.

Jesus Soto won pommel horse (8.9) to help pace Lake Park to a fourth-place finish at 49.85, and Wheaton North's Tim Krueger won parallel bars with a 9.7 to help the Falcons to fifth place at 49.4.

Keith Lage of Naperville Central placed second on floor exercise with a 9.2.