Boys Volleyball: Naperville North Ends Tigers' 30-Match Winning Streak

The play was as frenzied as the atmosphere was partisan and hot at the Illinois Math and Science Academy Tuesday night.

The Wheaton Warrenville South boys volleyball team, the most decorated program in state history with six state championships, was bidding for a ninth consecutive sectional title.

But DuPage Valley Conference rival Naperville North had other ideas.

Meeting for the fourth time this season, the Huskies ended the Tigers’ 30-match winning streak with a hard-fought 25-21, 22-25 and 25-23 victory in Aurora.

“We talked about ending (the Tigers’) state dominance,” Naperville North star Shane Witmer said.

The Tigers had their season come to a close with a record of 36 wins and three losses.

The three-set loss overshadowed several individual performances by WWS players Eric Luhrsen, Michael Stefanski and Thomas Jaeschke. Luhrsen was a ubiquitous force for the Tigers the entire evening.

After its first-game loss, a back-and-forth struggle that featured 14 ties and five lead changes, Wheaton Warrenville South stormed back in the second game to force a decisive rubber set.

Luhrsen, operating from both the front and back rows, had several kills to sustain the Tigers’ momentum. “It’s just a shame that someone had to lose,” said Luhrsen, who will play football for Eastern Illinois University in the fall. 

Wheaton Warrenville South, which defeated its league rival in its three regular-season meetings, survived a late Naperville North run to force the third game.
Luhrsen had back-to-back kills to give the Tigers an 18-12 cushion, only to see the Huskies (28-11) storm back to force a tie at 22-22.

But the Tigers responded in typical fashion, scoring the final three points in succession to extend their season. Luhrsen had the last of his six second-game kills sandwiched by two Naperville North hitting errors to close out the second game.

Unfortunately for the Tigers, however, physical mistakes would be their undoing in the final game. Fourteen Naperville North points came via South hitting or service errors.

In the heat of battle, South was penalized by five double-hit violations.
“At this juncture in the season, I don’t know how (the officials) can call (double-hit violations) as many times as they did,” Tigers coach Bill Schreier said.

Jaeschke, who augmented the match-high 15 kills by Luhrsen with 11 of his own, had consecutive aces to give South its second lead of the third game at 17-16.

But Witmer triggered a 7-3 Naperville North run to put the Tigers on the brink.
Jaeschke, Luhrsen and Stefanski had successive kills to forge a final tie at 23-23, but back-to-back hitting errors ended the Tigers’ attempt for a ninth straight finals appearance.

David Priest orchestrated the Tigers’ offensive attack with 37 assists. “I think (the end result) was people pressing, trying to do too much,” Schreier said.

“It’s a product of the system that we had to play the same team four times," Luhrsen said. "Naperville North is a very good team, and they peaked at the right time.”