Against a West Chicago team that didn't offer much resistance, Naperville North padded its resume Tuesday night in its DuPage Valley Conference opener.
The 25-17, 25-15 victory was efficient, and the win adds to the good feelings the No. 5 Huskies created Saturday with their championship at the Buffalo Grove Invitational.
"After that championship game, I think we came together so much," North senior setter Mike Buckman said. "We finally found a team that we can play with and just the enthusiasm that we need. And we know we need it. That's exactly what gave us that win I thought."
Up next for North (4-2, 1-0 DVC) is pool play in the Tiger Classic on Friday night. The Huskies will open the 24-team tournament at Wheaton Warrenville South with matches against Brother Rice and Oak Park.
"It determines a lot," Buckman said. "It is the beginning of the season, but it's all the best teams in the state and what not. It will really determine where we're at."
The Huskies were never threatened against West Chicago (1-6, 0-2 DVC). North senior Mike Henry opened the first game with consecutive aces and the Huskies calmly collected points with what North coach Roger Strausberger called "a controlled aggressiveness."
Sometimes North connected with its hitting. Sometimes the Wildcats gave away points with violations and errors. Either way, a two-game victory seemed inevitable.
"We just wanted to keep that momentum going," Strausberger said. "Obviously your first conference match, it's nice to get in and try to get a win out of your first conference match."
All-City outsider hitter Jon Bunge led the offense for North with seven kills, despite sitting out part of the first game. Middle hitter Colin Ball and Henry both added three kills each. Buckman had 13 assists.
West Chicago got some production from outside hitter Brendon Jones, who had four kills and two blocks, but the Wildcats didn't communicate well and kept making mistakes.
"There's no slouchers in the DVC," West Chicago coach Kris Hasty said. "It looks like you have to be ready to play every match. I was just looking for a little more fire than we had."
Hasty said part of the poor play for the Wildcats is due to the absence of outside hitter Andrew Opperman. The coach said Opperman has been hospitalized because of a perforated ulcer for more than a week.
Hasty said it would be two or three weeks before Opperman can play again.
What remains to be seen for North is whether the team that feels good now after winning a tournament and cruising through its conference opener is the same one that steps on the court this weekend against some of the best teams in the state. What North doesn't want is the return of the team that fell apart after taking a nine-point lead in the third game in a season-opening loss to Neuqua Valley last week.
"If we want to play well, I think we're one of the best teams in the state," Strausberger said. "It's just a matter of us wanting to play well and having that desire and intensity when it's match time."
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