Redhawks stay in the hunt

Naperville Central stayed alive in the DuPage Valley Conference title race by upsetting No. 4 Wheaton Warrenville South 29-31, 25-23, 25-14 Tuesday in Wheaton.

Dan Dierking and Matt Yanz each had eight kills for the Redhawks, who host league-leading Glenbard East Thursday.

“When we were down (9-3 and 12-6 early in game two), we talked about how much we wanted a chance to win conference,” Dierking said. “It was a matter of us not giving up and pushing through. We’ve been in that situation before. We stayed focused.”

Eric Hardek had 11 kills and Rob Samp and Neal Whittington each added five kills and three blocks for WW South (26-7, 9-4). The Tigers trailed 14-10 in Game 3 on an ace by Joe Kelley before the Redhawks ran off five unanswered points.

“We started pressing and made some bad decisions at points in time,” WW South coach Bill Schreier said. “We didn’t make plays when we needed to.”

Naperville Central (28-6, 11-2) can tie Glenbard East for the DuPage Valley Conference title with a win Thursday. The Rams defeated the Redhawks in two games earlier this season in Lombard.

“That match has been in the back of our minds,” Dierking said. “After the Lincoln-Way East tournament, we learned that we can’t play perfect every single match. We just have to take it a point and a game at a time.”