On May 14, the Naperville Central boys volleyball team narrowly defeated Minooka Central Community High School 25-22 and 25-23 in a three set match. The two-set victory settled the score after an April 18 loss to Minooka at the Wheaton Warrenville South tournament.
The Redhawks played with vigor and intensity, with all players hitting multiple kills as well as scoring 4aces. Central performed with an average sideout percentage of 60.87%, meaning roughly 61% of the opponents’ serves ended in a point and a sideout for Central.
“I thought we played really well,” head varsity coach Roger Strausberger said. “Both sets, I thought we were up and had a good lead. We kind of let Minooka back into it, but we were able to finish off both matches by putting balls away, passing [and] making plays, instead of waiting for them to make errors.”
The victory marked a significant improvement for the team, as they had previously lost to Minooka after winning the first set of a three-match game, yet ultimately falling with two consecutive losses.
“We had [multiple] three set matches early in the season where we would win the first set of the three set match and then lose the next two,” Strausberger said. “So I’m just trying to have the guys be confident in their skills, so that we can persevere and finish off some of these sets that have been really close.”
Senior and team captain Lucas Hayes dominated Minooka with eight kills and junior Teddy Bramlett trailed closely with seven kills and five successful blocks.
“I think our energy was just super high [at Minooka] and that was really important, because we were able to unite as a team and [feed] off each other’s energy,” Hayes said. “When we’re hyped up, we play better because we’re more loose and less focused on little mistakes.”
The team has gone 3-4 in terms of their DVC record, playing their final DVC match against Metea Valley on Tuesday, May 19. Looking farther ahead, the team plays their regional qualifier match on Saturday, May 23 at Downers Grove North.
“[I ] just [want us to] give [regionals] everything we have,” Hayes said. “Just go all out – mistakes don’t matter, [and] don’t be hesitant. Just leave it all on the floor, because it could be our last game of the season, and [we will] do our best to win.”