Naperville North holds off Neuqua Valley

Just when it looked like DuPage Valley Conference newcomer Neuqua Valley was going to take a huge step toward claiming a girls volleyball title, the defending champs made a statement that they weren't ready to step aside just yet.

In a battle of league unbeatens, two-time DVC defending champion Naperville North rallied from 20-15 and 23-20 deficits in the decisive third set before outlasting the host Wildcats 25-20, 27-29, 25-23 Tuesday night to take over sole possession atop the conference standings.

"Once we lost that second game we knew we needed to come back even harder in the third game," said Huskies sophomore outside hitter Ariana Budnik, who had 10 kills on the night, including 2 late to help erase the 23-20 deficit in the third set. "I just felt like we knew we could do it. We have been practicing so hard and we deserved this win. So we just pulled it out at the end."

Neuqua Valley (26-7, 4-1), which won the Upstate Eight title last year before moving over to the DVC, was uncharacteristically error prone early on Tuesday. But after pulling out the thrilling middle game on a kill by Kora Kauling, the Wildcats looked poised to complete the comeback after Sarah Daneliak's tip over the Huskies block put them ahead 20-15 in the finale.

But Naperville North (20-7, 5-0), which had superb play from senior libero Emily Bushman and senior setter Jen Dore, along with a big night from some youngsters, kept battling back. Freshman Sarah Kushner had 12 kills and 14 digs for Naperville North, while sophomore Budnik was also big on the outside.

"Composure is something we talk about a lot. I think they really showed that in the third set," said coach Jen Urban, whose Huskies were swept by Neuqua earlier this year at the Wheaton Classic. "Down 20-15, I thought they continued to fight at the end and they played unselfish team volleyball and we needed every bit of it. We had girls that earned points down the stretch, which was really good to see because we knew that we wouldn't get many points (late) based on their errors."

Wildcats coach Kelly Simon was not thrilled that her team missed 10 serves on the night and also had a few too many attack errors. But she was quick to credit the Huskies for coming up big in the DVC showdown.

"I give a lot of credit to Naperville North. Their defense was unbelievable," Simon said. "They were relentless on defense and they just dug and dug and dug. They never quit on any ball and they just swung away on the outside and right side for kills, and they served really tough."

For the Wildcats, senior Claire Grove had 15 kills and 15 digs, libero Nora Meehan had 21 digs and Kauling added 10 kills and 24 assists.

For Huskies rookie Kushner, Tuesday was about helping the seniors pick up big win and keeping alive hopes of a DVC three-peat.

"I was really playing for our seniors because this is the last time that they got to play against Neuqua," said Kushner, who had a kill and an ace that started the rally from down 20-15 in Game 3. "And I know they really wanted to beat them so I was just trying to leave it all on the court for them.

"It was so much fun … if we just keep playing like this I think we can go pretty far this year."