Geneva makes quick work of Naperville North
Already with one postseason win by the skin of its teeth, Geneva's volleyball team decided to make things a little easier on their fans - and their coach - Thursday night in the Class 4A Geneva regional championship game.
"I don't think my blood pressure rose as high tonight," Geneva coach Annie Seitelman joked.
That's because the Vikings came out aggressive, serving No. 6 seed Naperville North out of system in a convincing 25-16, 25-20 victory.
That 2-set win was a far cry from Tuesday's regional opener when the Vikings needed 3 sets - and some close calls late - for a 25-23 win in set three over Metea Valley.
"It (Tuesday) was a lot closer than we expected," said Geneva sophomore Grace Loberg. "We knew we couldn't mess around today because they have a very good team. We had to come and push. Everybody pulled through. The setters did an amazing job."
No. 4 seed Geneva (29-7) advances to the Class 4A Bartlett sectional where the Vikings get a shot at No. 1 Benet (36-1) at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
"We've got our work cut out for us," Seitelman said. "It's kind of exciting to play the No. 1 seed in sectional. That's the beauty of the playoffs that on any given night any team can win or lose."
Naperville North (26-10) stayed with the Vikings early in the first set, holding its last lead at 6-5.
Geneva scored 14 of the next 17 points to take command, 19-9. Naperville North coach Jennifer Urban called both her timeouts in that stretch but it did little to slow servers Loberg - 5 points, 2 aces - and Kelsey Wicinski - 4 points, 1 ace.
"In the first set I thought our serve-receive wasn't as strong," Urban said. "We weren't able to get our middles involved. We depend on our middles to score for us and when we aren't in system that makes it really difficult. That was a frustrating aspect for us tonight."
Loberg also had a back row kill during her run. The Wisconsin commit had 4 kills in the first set and 5 in the second to lead both teams with 9.
Ally Barrett and Kyley Thompson both added 5 kills. Thompson tooled a shot to close out Game 1.
Geneva also jumped ahead early in the second set. Loberg's booming kill doubled the Huskies at 10-5; moments later a lunging dig by Kelsey Wicinski kept a long rally alive that Maddie Courter eventually ended with a block kill for their biggest lead at 18-8.
The Huskies cut six points off that deficit to get as close as 21-17. Jenna LaCorte served consecutive aces that Geneva let land in just inside the back line.
Loberg made sure Naperville North didn't get closer with a kill, and after Wicinski pushed a ball deep for a winner, another big swing from Loberg took the Vikings to match point - and she then closed it with a block.
While the Vikings did miss 9 serves in the match, they also fired 6 aces and set the tone with their serving.
"We had a game plan coming in and I think our kids did a really nice job executing that game plan," Seitelman said. "We had a few mental lapses but I thought we rebounded nicely to finish the (second) set off."
Allie Mullen led the Vikings with 3 blocks. Mikayla Lanasa and Megan Cameron split setting with 11 and 8 assists, respectively. Wicinski had 7 digs and Loberg 5.
LaCorte and Megan Wernette both had 4 kills to lead the Huskies.