Katarzynski leads West Chicago past WW South
West Chicago senior Ronni Katarzynski was not about to let her final chance of a playoff win slip away.
The Wildcats libero, who had saw her team lose its regional opener in each of the last three years, dove all over the court Monday night in an effort to help West Chicago outlast Wheaton Warrenville South. Thanks to her all-out effort and 29 digs, No. 17 West Chicago prevailed 25-22, 23-25, 25-22 over the 16th-seeded Tigers in the opening round of the Class 4A St. Francis regional.
"My four years here we've always gone out in the first round so this is a big moment for me and my team," the 5-foot-3 Ronni Katarzynski said. "We just have faith in our team and we don't let size or whoever's on the other side control how we play. We always focus on what we have because we have strong kids and we're unstoppable when we work as a team. It worked tonight."
West Chicago (21-14) trailed 22-19 in the opener before winning the final six points. Molly Howard started the rally with one of her team-high 12 kills and Jennifer Orr and Maggie Smith combined for a block for a 24-22 lead on the way to the comeback.
The Tigers, who also lost a tight three-setter to West Chicago earlier at the Autumnfest tourney, evened the match by prevailing in a very tight second set. With the score tied 22-22, Kara Watts made a diving save and Kristin Martin followed up the shot with a lunging save of her own that ended up in the back corner on the West Chicago side for a key winning point. Martin, the Tigers' top attacker, closed her senior season with 15 kills on the night.
But in Game 3 West Chicago jumped ahead 23-16 after some strong serves from Laura Katarzynski and then withstood a late charge from WW South to advance to a Tuesday match with top-seeded St. Francis.
"We made a nice run there late, but it was too little too late," Tigers coach Bill Schreier said. "That's the frustration … you anticipate that it's going to stay even longer and they went on that service run. But we battled back. To be down that far and to come close like that is a nice gut check for them. At least they gave it their all."
With Martin picking up four late kills, the Tigers closed to within 23-22 before Orr's winner and an ace by Jessica Meissner gave West Chicago the victory.
"I think after Set 2 we were like, oh man, we can not let this go," West Chicago coach Kris Hasty said. "So we really tried to play as a team and stay calm. It was an exciting match … for us to come out on top that was pretty awesome. Now tomorrow we've got to come out and play some good volleyball."
Laura Katarzynski, who had 10 kills Monday, was thrilled to pull out the regional opener.
"It was very intense and very fun. You always have to push," she said. "We all worked as a team and finished strong. Tomorrow there's nothing to lose."