St. Francis stops Wauconda's postseason journey
The magical ride for Wauconda's girls volleyball squad ended on Thursday night, but the girls on this team wore smiles after their match with powerhouse St. Francis.
"I think we are holding back,'' said Wauconda middle hitter, Sara Sexton. "This is the furthest we've gone in 10 years."
Indeed. This Bulldogs team wasn't even supposed to beat Prairie Division power Lakes. And Wauconda clearly wasn't likely to knock off 30-game winner Wheaton Academy in the Class 3A sectional opener at Vernon Hills.
Yet this Bulldogs team kept on winning.
"We found our way,'' Sexton said. "We got along and played together."
The end of the season came at the hands of 35-4 St. Francis as Wauconda fell 25-14, 25-12. The Spartans advance to a Class 3A supersectional date against Marian Central at 1 p.m. Saturday at Belvidere High School.
Wauconda (27-9) actually played better in set two, closing to within 14-12 before surrendering 9 straight points to St. Francis.
"That's a well-oiled machine,'' said Wauconda coach Alison Williams. "They have a lot of good players."
One player certainly stood out for the winners - Nebraska-bound Molly Haggerty. The junior had 12 kills in the two sets.
"She's very good,'' said St. Francis coach Peg Kopec.
It was clear from the start that these Spartans from Wheaton were the class of the sectional. The Bulldogs forged one tie in set one, and it came at the start on a Sexton kill. It was 1-1.
On one of those dozen kills from Haggerty, it was 20-9. The Bulldogs scored just a few points on their service and two of them came after kills from LeAnne Sakowicz. Haggerty closed out the opening set with yet another precision kill and the first set was over quickly.
Again, as in Tuesday's sectional win over Wheaton Academy, the Bulldogs clearly played better in the second set. On a kill from Kayla Wedl, this game was knotted at 3-3. Again, the Spartans went on another surge to take an 11-6 lead.
Sakowicz's serving ace cut that lead to 13-10. Wedl's kill kept her team in it at 14-11, but that's as close as the Bulldogs game in set two
"This team far exceeded our expectations,'' Williams said. "They turned out to be a great group of kids. They grew as a family and really wanted to win for each other. I am super proud of them."
Despite the one-sided nature of this sectional final, Kopec appreciated the way Wauconda competed.
"They were so determined,'' Kopec said. "Nothing seem to bother them."
Don't say so long to Wauconda just yet. The two major players from this fall, Sexton and Sakowicz, will return next year.
"I want to get as far as this team did,'' Sexton said. "We just need to have a better start. I've been playing with most of these girls since my freshman year."
Sexton and Sakowicz led Wauconda with 5 kills each. Wedl, another junior, added 4 kills. Middle blocker Haley Meyer and libero Ashley Anderson should also be back.