Geneva survives scare from Metea Valley

Geneva's volleyball team walked a fine line Tuesday night.

Two points away from having their season come to an abrupt halt, the fourth-seeded Vikings (29-7) fought off elimination by scoring the final 3 points to pull out a 23-25, 25-17, 25-23 Class 4A regional semifinal victory over 14th-seeded Metea Valley (18-13) in Geneva.

Trailing 23-22 in the decisive third set, the Vikings drew even on a kill from sophomore Ally Barrett, grabbed a 24-23 lead on a powerful slam from 6-2 sophomore Grace Loberg.

Geneva sealed the decision in controversial fashion when a kill attempt by Mustangs senior outside hitter Lexie Lobdell narrowly missed the back line on match point much to the dismay of the visitors' bench, which felt the ball was tipped by a Viking player.

"It's hard to lose on those," said Metea Valley coach Dave MacDonald. "There was a touch at the end but it's like any sport - it's a game of inches. Unfortunately, it didn't go our way tonight but we fought hard. I'm so proud of those girls. They fought hard against a great Geneva team."

Vikings coach Annie Seitelman admitted her team felt some nerves after letting a 23-22 lead slip away in the opening game and then falling behind early and again late in the third set.

"Our kids were a little rattled," said Seitelman, whose team will try for its third consecutive regional title Thursday night against Naperville North. "But I thought the heart our kids had, especially after going down in the first set, showed a lot of growth from our squad that I hadn't really seen yet.

"It was nice to see them bounce back."

Barrett, who had 7 of her team-high 14 kills with a pair of blocks in Game 2, also provided 9 digs and an ace.

"If you look at her stat line, she had a nice game and even some of those intangibles you don't see," Seitelman said of Barrett. "She had a nice all-around game."

"They were a great team and it was a great fight," said Barrett. "I don't think we played as well as we would have liked but we still played good and they played really well.

"You really have to give it your all on those last couple points - it can go either way."

Loberg recorded 13 kills, 10 digs and an ace for the Vikings, who also received contributions from Mikayla Lanasa (20 assists, 1 ace), Kelsey Wicinski (13 digs) and Megan Cameron (13 assists).

"There were big points and those sophomores were hitting the ball and getting the job done," said Seitelman. "It's nice to see that leadership show from some younger kids."

Lobdell, a 4-year varsity starter, had a match-high 15 kills and 7 digs for the Mustangs, while sophomore setter Miranda Cada had 11 assists and 6 digs, and junior libero Autumn Long added 11 digs.

"I can't say enough nice things about Lexie," said MacDonald. "She's a great girl off the court and on the court. She put the team on her back today. She was not going down without a fight.

"She set a great example for our program."