Both the Benet and Neuqua Valley boys volleyball teams are eager to start play in Saturday's Springfest Tournament at Glenbard East.
The Redwings, in tournament play for the third straight weekend, are looking forward to proving themselves against the top-flight competition, which also includes the host Rams, St. Francis, Glenbard North and Downers Grove South.
The Wildcats are just happy to be getting some tournament action at all. Neuqua , which reached the state's final eight last year, has played and won just three matches this season.
"We've had four weeks of practice," Neuqua outside hitter Tim Brackett said. "We haven't really been tested, and there will be some good tests in this tournament."
The Wildcats are expecting big things from a senior-dominated team that features returners Rob Bauer and Derek Menendez, who also start, but coach Erich Mendoza believes that the team's sharpness can be honed only by top-level competition.
"Our expectations are really high, partially because of our success the past few years," Mendoza said. "But, we've been very inconsistent. We need more games, especially tournament games.
"There are good wins and bad wins, and our last two wins against Lake Park and St. Charles North have been bad wins. Our serve-receive and our communication on the court, which are related, have been shaky."
"Serve-receive is the key to the quick and powerful offense we like to run," Brackett said. "We can't run our plays if the passing isn't good. We've been working on it successfully in practice, now we have to transfer that to the games."
"Also, the guys are relatively quiet on the court," Mendoza said. "We need more talk, a more lively spirit and better communication. Two guys going for the ball have to communicate or the pass is screwed up. We've been working on these things in practice, but you don't improve by playing against yourselves. We need the competition we'll get this weekend."
Benet -- 8-2 overall, including a championship win at last week's Argo Tournament -- is inexperienced outside of a few outstanding veterans: outside hitter Kevin Massura, setter Ben Steele and libero Billy Aukstik.
"This will be a good test to see where we are at this time of the year," Benet coach Amy Van Eekeren said. "We don't have as big a block as some teams, so we'll be working on our quickness and defense. The guys are a little tired, but this is where you really push through to see where you stack up against these really top teams.
"You need tough tournaments like this."
According to Massura, freshman outside hitter Luke Ladowski and middle hitters Ross Kozak and Jonas Cyvas are talented, but need to be battle-tested. Massura believes the Redwings have something to prove this weekend.
"This is one of the first opportunities we'll have to play against some of the more talented teams in the area and show we're one of the big players in the tournament, too," Massura said. "Our defense has been solid, and our passing and serve-receive have been there. This is the first chance our younger players have to play against bigger talent. This can bring us together more as a team."
The Redwings won the championship at Glenbard East in their first year as a varsity program in 2006, and they're continuing to build on that early success with the goal of becoming one of the strongest and most consistent teams in the state.
For the first time this year, Benet is fielding teams at three levels, freshman, junior varsity and varsity.
"We're still building the program," Van Eekeren said, "but we have to step up and continue to perform in order to earn respect."
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