Defense-minded Downers Grove North defeats Glenbard East

When the Downers Grove North boys volleyball team breaks its huddle before a game or during timeouts, the entire team shouts "Defense."

That focus on defense is paying dividends for the Trojans, and their outstanding blocking and digging were the big weapons in Thursday's 25-21, 25-23 win over Glenbard East.

It was the second time the Trojans defeated the Rams this year.

"Our blocking was good tonight," said outside hitter Liam Reidy, who led the Trojans with 10 kills. "We were forcing them to hit hard shots and when they did get a shot in we put it back up. We're confident in our digging and blocking.'

"We've worked on defense so much and we knew we would be better during the second half of the season," said Downers Grove North coach Mark Wasik. "If you continue to play the ball and give them something to deal with, that's going to cause a breakdown. And we've been serving well and that has given us the opportunities to get a block or a dig."

Both games were close throughout, so the Trojans (18-10) had to be efficient and consistent to gain the win.

"We closed them down a little," Wasik said. "We took care of the ball better and that was the difference. We played a very clean volleyball game tonight."

"Glenbard East is a very quick team and they make us play a lot quicker," Reidy said. "Early in the year we had a light schedule and we were inexperienced. We were very inconsistent. Tournament play has helped us really improve our consistency."

Setter Dan Gilbert had 23 assists and spread the ball around for the Trojans. Behind Reidy in kills were Jonathan Poortinga and Jack Martin with 7 kills each. Colin Michels was the dig leader with 12, and Gilbert added 7.

"Martin is a lefty who plays the right side," Wasik said. "That gives us more hitting options. Connor Daugherty came in and did a nice job for us."

Nick Symonds had 10 kills to lead the Rams (28-4), followed by Adam Eboli with 9.

The Rams also recorded some good defensive numbers with Ben Symonds leading with 14 digs. Tyler Greene came up with 11 digs and Ben Cartwright had 7.

Setter Andrew Hurlburt dished out 24 assists.

"Downers Grove North played very good defense," said Glenbard East coach Marci Maier. "They brought the ball back on us a lot. We have to find a way to execute better. We had our opportunities, but we hit the ball out of bounds. If those balls had gone down for kills, it would have been a different ball game. We played good defense too, we just didn't put enough balls down."