Boys Volleyball:

When you’re a reserve on a fairly talented and deep volleyball team, you never know when – or if – you’re going to get the call.

Trevor Wills got the call Monday night at about 10 p.m.

“I got a text from Matt Callaway saying I’m going in tomorrow,” Wills said. “I was excited when I heard that. I told myself I got to prepare, I got to get ready. I was focused the whole day.”

Filling in for outside hitter Nick Smith, who injured his thumb in a minor home accident Monday night, Wills had a modest two kills, an assist and nine service points Tuesday.

However, that was more than enough as No. 1-ranked Wheaton Warrenville South raced past visiting Naperville North 25-14, 25-14.

“Man, it was great getting my first start,” Wills said. “I had a lot of fun today. I’ve gotten into a few games this year against some other teams. I’m just happy to get my first start.

“The guys were really supportive the whole day,” he added. “I’d see them in the hallway, they’d say ‘C’mon Trev, you can do this. Good luck. Encouraging things to boost my spirit. I really appreciated it.”

Ironically, WW South coach Bill Schreier had just talked to the Tigers (25-0, 9-0 in the DuPage Valley) about the need to be ready in case another player got hurt.

“Being ready at a moment’s notice, that’s what we were talking about,” Schreier said. “I jinxed myself. I used Derrick Rose as an example. You get on a roll, you get your starters going, things are working well and you assume that’s going to be how it is. But something crops up, injuries happen.

“Nick’s out, Trevor comes in, Trevor steps in and does a great job,” the coach added. “He was a little shaky at the beginning, a little nervous at the beginning, but that’s to be expected. Then he responded quite well. I thought he did a tremendous job.

“It helps having these guys around, too,” Schreier said.

Wills got a lot of support from Thomas Jaeschke (eight kills, two blocks, three aces), Tim Zyburt (six kills), Callaway (four kills, two blocks) and Kit Bruzek (19 assists).

Spencer Sauter led Naperville North (16-8, 6-3) with six kills and a block, 6-foot-5 senior Trevor Stables added four kills and Gert Lisha had nine assists, a kill and a block.

“If our serve receive is there, we can hang with those elite teams,” Naperville North coach Nate Bornancin said. “But if it breaks down like it did today…a lot of that is that they are phenomenal servers.

“They have kids that can float, and obviously Jaeschke’s jump-serve killed us in Game 1,” he added. “They got out to that 5-1 start and kept building from there. They’re a very, very well-rounded team.”

Naperville North had a modest four-game winning streak snapped, but has still won 14 of its last 18 heading into a trip to West Chicago Thursday and the Lincoln-Way East tournament this weekend.

“I think we got away from what has made us successful the last 17 matches,” Bornancin said. “But obviously, Wheaton South is the best at showing you what you need to get better at.”

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