Seniors lead Naperville North past Naperville Central
Just when it looked like Naperville Central was poised to extend Tuesday's girls volleyball match to three games, some Naperville North veterans stepped up their game and finished off the DuPage Valley Conference sweep of the rival Redhawks.
Naperville North won the opener on their home floor 25-12, but the visitors then claimed leads of 10-5, 15-11 and 18-15 before the Huskies and four-year varsity setter Emily Kwak stormed back to take the game and the match with a 25-22 thriller.
Kwak found longtime teammate Megan Wernette, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker, on several occasions when the hosts needed a big point down the stretch. But she also found fellow seniors Jenna LaCorte and Caitlin Miller on a regular basis as the Huskies (9-6, 2-0) had too much firepower for Naperville Central.
"I know second game didn't start off as well as we had hoped, but we did a really good job of keeping composure on the court," said Kwak, who had 22 assists in the match. "We didn't get down and we kept fighting back so I think that was a really positive way to finish off the second game."
It doesn't hurt having middles like Wernette and Miller, who combined for 16 kills, along with a solid outside attack from LaCorte.
"We're always looking to get three hitters scoring for us in the match, and those three girls came to play tonight. They really kept us going," Huskies coach Jen Urban said. "Our middles looked great tonight. Emily is real comfortable setting them when she's in system and a little bit out of system too. So they helped us tremendously tonight."
The Redhawks, now 8-8 overall and 1-1 in the DVC, never got things going in he first game, but the defense and the outside hitting of Samantha Herron allowed them to lead much of the second game before the Huskies rallied to complete the sweep. Herron had a match-high 12 kills on the night, the final of which kept the Redhawks alive for one more point, down 24-22. But a block kill by Wernette followed and the Huskies claimed the first of two cross-town battles during the regular season.
"In the second set I liked how we battled, but it's going to come down at the end of the set, when you're up 19-18, you've got to keep pushing … and we gave up 5 straight points," Redhawks coach Jeff Danbom said. "But I did like our attitude. We came out swinging, and I liked the second set."
Kristina Bellavia added 6 kills for Naperville Central and Andrea Davenport 21 assists, but they couldn't quite prevent the Huskies from the sweep.
"Central's an outstanding team. They really are, and it's great competition," Wernette said. "One thing we've been working on really hard is executing. Even if you make a mistake, just come back harder. I think we did a really good job of just pulling back, getting the momentum back and finishing off that second game."