Lineup changes, but York's result doesn't
York keeps on shuffling its lineup, yet the girls volleyball Dukes just keep on winning.
In Wednesday's Senior Night matchup, coach Patty Iverson worked in a few more seniors against visiting Willowbrook and also played another match without injured starter Ally Mann. But York (25-4) had little worries in the 25-14, 25-13 West Suburban Silver defeat of the Warriors.
The Dukes, who recently beat Glenbard West in a thriller and who early this season handed defending Class 4A champion Benet its only loss, was led on Wednesday as usual by outside hitter Alex Preuss and a superb overall team defensive effort.
Preuss recorded three quick kills as the Dukes led just 6-5 in the opener and then went on a 14-7 run to take command of the opener. For the night the 5-foot-9 Pruess had a match-high 13 kills.
"I think we played very well together," said Pruess, who recently committed to play at Lewis University. "Especially since one of my best friends, Ally Mann, is out. It hurt the team, but others have stepped in and we're doing really well."
Without Mann - who is expected to return to action in time to help top-seeded York make a run at the Riverside-Brookfield sectional crown - Stephanie Reinke has played a bigger role. But regardless of who plays up front and joins Pruess in leading the attack, York's bread and butter is a defense led by Halle Truett and Amaya Diaz, along with setter Sarah Rose.
"We're a good defensive team. We're not a tall team, but we play good defense. We have a solid block and we play very good defense," Iverson said after watching Truett lead the way with 18 digs against Willowbrook.
Truett says the team's strong play is credited in part to the fact that a veteran group has played a lot of volleyball together over the last few seasons.
"Our defense started out great last year … we have me and Amaya Diaz and Sarah Rose also plays phenomenal defense," Truett said. "So we have all worked together for a few years now and we're real comfortable with who's taking what balls and like what balls we're capable of getting and whose boundaries are whose.
"I think this year it's the strongest it's ever been and it's still progressing throughout the season."
With Pruess deadly on the outside, Sydney Bonthron tough in the middle with 6 kills and then a strong night on defense, it was tough for Willowbrook to pull off the upset.
"They don't make a lot of mistakes," Warriors coach Sue Bower said. "They don't. But I'm just happy with the level that we competed at. Especially this time of year as we start to prepare for regionals."
Jamie Chiappetta led the Warriors (13-15, 2-3) with 4 kills and 8 digs in the match, and Maddie Weinhold had 5 assists and 5 digs.
Truett expects Mann to return soon and for the Dukes to make a long postseason run.
"I feel great," she said. "I feel 100 percent confident in what we're capable of doing. I think we're setting ourselves up very solidly for the postseason."