Boys volleyball: Naperville North grinds out win at Glenbard East
Naperville North boys volleyball coach Nate Bornancin said Glenbard East always presents a tough challenge to try and overcome.
"We know Glenbard East will defensively grind it out and keep the ball off the court. They have stepped up defensively in previous matches," he said.
The Huskies (8-3), though, met the most current challenge prevailing Thursday night on the Rams' court, winning 21-25, 25-18, 25-20.
Glenbard East (6-2) led most of the first half of the third and final set with Naperville North ahead most of the second half.
An ace by the Rams' Nick O'Brien tied the game at 17. The Huskies then proceeded to score eight of the final 11 points to seal the match victory.
Points included 2 kills and a block by John Jaworski along with a block by Kevin Doran.
Jaworski said what has helped Naperville North to a strong start this season was also evident Thursday.
"Defense and serve receive is the key to success. We have gotten our big hitters in the system more. We're setting to them and getting more points," he said.
Except for very early on, the Rams controlled the opening set. Carson Brandt's kill put Glenbard East up 23-20. A hitting error by the Rams pulled the Huskies to within 23-21 before a serve in the net by Naperville North and an illegal hit sealed the win for the Rams.
The Huskies bounced back in the second set. A hitting error by Naperville North cut their lead to 18-15, but the team scored seven of the game's final 10 points, including 2 kills by Dillon Bramlet, and a block by Henry Zhou.
"In the second set we made less errors and were not forcing plays," Jaworski said.
He led with 10 kills and 21 digs. Darius Baginskis had 10 digs and Connor Wojcik finished with 31 assists.
"We've been playing good volleyball. We're very determined to do better than last year," said Rams coach Marci Maier. "Tonight we made a lot of good plays. We just did not string them together."
Cal Iwinski led Glenbard East with 7 kills, Patrick Campuzano had 12 assists and Jake Bojan contributed 10 digs.