York falls to Lyons for 3rd time
NORMAL -- York had Lyons Township right where it wanted it.
For the third time this season, the Dukes pushed West Suburban Silver rival Lyons to three games, but for the third time this season the Lions prevailed in the end.
Lyons, ranked No. 10 in the country by prepvolleyball.com, shook off a Game 2 loss to York and then finished off the Dukes, taking a 25-16, 16-25, 25-12 win in the Class 4A girls volleyball semifinals Friday night at Redbird Arena.
Lyons (40-1) will get a chance to avenge last year's state-title-match loss to Cary-Grove when the Lions take on the Trojans at 9 p.m. Saturday for the state championship. Cary-Grove (41-0) defeated Edwardsville 25-20, 25-20 in Friday's second semifinal. York (34-5) plays Edwardsville at 7:30 p.m. Saturday for third place.
“That was a really tough match,” said York coach Patty Iverson. “We were exactly where we wanted to be after that second game, but then our block broke down and they started tipping on us. They got too far ahead and it snowballed. It's disappointing.”
Lyons dominated Game 1 as the Dukes looked like the first timers at state they were. The Lions jumped ahead 4-0 to start the match and York could never get closer than 3 points. A Julia Watkins block gave Lyons the Game 1 win.
But Game 2 was a different story. Obviously more comfortable on the court, the Dukes led 9-8 when senior Emily Iverson took over the serve and ran off 9 straight points to give York an 18-8 advantage. Even though Lyons closed to within 18-13 and 21-16, the Dukes held off the surge and won the game on a powerful kill from junior Caroline Rose, who finished the match with a team-high 15 kills.
Game 3, though, was all Lyons. With Illinois recruit Jocelynn Birks leading the way, the Lions broke out to leads of 7-3 and 12-4 and never looked back, taking their place in the state-title match when Birks slammed home the last of her 19 kills on the night.
Lyons also got 9 kills from junior middle Alexis Viliunas, who missed the first two matches between the two with an injury. Laura Williams also added 9 kills for the Lions.
“This game had more pressure on us,” Rose said. “Alexis gives them more versatility on the court.”
“We're certainly pleased to be returning to the state final,” said Lyons coach Joann Pyritz. “York made it tough. They're a good team. They're our conference rival and they're our friends. They certainly made it interesting by taking us to three games, but every time we've played them it's been a tough three-game match.”
Emily Iverson had 16 assists and Katie Gallagher 14 for York, while Melissa Deatsch added 6 kills and Gallagher 5.
“This whole season has been an awesome experience,” Iverson said. “We have great team chemistry and we're not done. We're going to come back (Saturday) and finish with a win.”