Fenwick defeats Glenbard South in volleyball sectional semifinal

Throughout Tuesday's Class 3A Glenbard South girls volleyball sectional semifinal, the host Raiders kept waiting for the big run that would put Fenwick away.

It never came.

Instead the fifth-seeded Friars hung around long enough to take a 25-19 28-26 victory over the No. 1-seeded Raiders.

"Glenbard South did a great job, particularly (senior MacKenzie Watterson) and (sophomore Michelle Glover), who we were keying on," Fenwick coach Kathleen O'Laughlin said. "We knew they weren't going to just go away. We knew they were going to come out fighting in that second game."

In the first game Fenwick (25-10) took a 9-3 lead early, but Glenbard South (25-13) clawed back into it, tying the game at 10-10 on a Glover block kill. But Fenwick won the next point, and the Raiders never could draw even again.

The second game was back and forth the whole way, with neither team leading by more than 2 points until the Raiders went ahead 18-14.

"I felt good about it at times," Raiders coach Chad Grant said. "You never really fell comfortable, like it's in hand. Both teams are pretty evenly matched, and they were very scrappy on defense, so they had the potential to go on a lot of runs, which they did. They just made one more play at the end than we did."

"No one was going to let anyone walk out of here easily tonight. That is playoff volleyball," O'Laughlin added.

Fenwick fought back to tie the game again at 19-19, and it resumed its back-and-forth pattern until the Friars were first to get a 2-point margin again.

"We relied on our seniors," O'Laughlin said. "We have 10 of them, and they had to step it up. In those 25-25 moments, we can really count on them to get the job done."

Meanwhile, the Raiders played just three seniors. Four underclassmen saw significant action.

"It's not really an excuse," Grant said of his team's youth. "They've been here all season. I thought a lot of them did a really nice job tonight. They didn't play like sophomores and freshmen out there. They were tough."

Watterson finished with 10 kills and 8 digs for the Raiders. Glover had 7 kills and 3 blocks, and Bella Bauman and Bailee Flanagan each had 3 kills. Senior libero Payton Carli totaled 17 digs, and junior setter Claire Werner added 25 assists.

Fenwick will meet Rosary in Thursday's sectional final.

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