St. Francis fights past Naperville North girls volleyball
Despite more than 1,200 wins and 11 state titles, Peg Kopec always makes sure to stop and smell the roses.
The St. Francis volleyball coach makes it a priority for her team to take a moment to enjoy special times, and that's exactly what she planned to do after the top-seeded Spartans held off No. 6 Naperville North 25-22, 25-21 to claim the Class 4A sectional crown at East Aurora on Thursday night.
"We're going to go out tonight. We go out after every major victory," she said after St. Francis improved to 36-3 on the year. "It will be short, cause it's a school night, but you've got to stop along the way to realize what you've done and what you've accomplished and enjoy that for a minute."
The Spartans have enjoyed quite a bit the last few years, including three straight Class 3A titles. Next up now is a supersectional showdown Saturday at Bolingbrook against Benet, the defending Class 4A champ.
On Thursday Molly Haggerty led the way with 14 kills and some key blocks, and St. Francis needed it all against a Huskies team that saved its best volleyball for the playoffs. After upsetting Geneva for a regional title and then surprising second-seeded St. Charles North in the sectional semifinals, Naperville North made the Spartans earn the sectional crown.
The 28-11 Huskies' only lead in the first set was 1-0, and their biggest lead was just 4-2 in the nightcap, yet they hung tough with the top seed throughout. Senior libero Emily Bushman had 8 digs and freshman Sarah Kushner had 5 kills and 5 digs, but the Spartans were just a little too tough.
"We really came in with a chip on our shoulder knowing that we've really got to fight hard," said Bushman, one of three seniors leaders for Naperville North. "They played hard, we played hard. We were fighting hard the entire match. It's really hard for us to come up short, but it wasn't a poorly played match. A lot of credit goes to St. Francis. They're an incredible team with a lot of talent."
Aided by a three-year varsity setter in Dani Messa, the Spartans made some adjustments to help Haggerty and Kamryn Malloy get around a solid Huskies block. Messa finished the night with 30 assists, with Kamryn Malloy and her sister Delaney combining for 17 kills.
"We switched it up and we switch our hitters around," said Kamryn Malloy, who added that some timely dump shots also helped on Thursday. "We try to switch it up so the other team doesn't know where we're coming from. And the technique (with dumps) is like hit, hit throw in low shot. Hit, hit throw in low shot. It keeps them on their toes."
Haggerty said the team was very impressed with the Huskies' defense on Tuesday and knew the underdogs would put up a big fight in the finals.
"We watched a lot on Tuesday after our match and we saw that they just play insane defense," she said. "We noticed they set up outside a lot … so in practice we were switching me and Kamryn around to try and stop the block. We were trying to adjust to their defense because obviously they got up every ball. So we tried tips, hard hits, hitting to corners, everything. It worked out for us."
Despite the loss Naperville North coach Jen Urban sung her team's praises after the match.
"The girls really elevated their play the last couple weeks of the season," she said. "It was good to see us playing our best volleyball when it mattered most. The last three matches the girls just continued to fight back. To fight for sideouts and for every point we could get. We needed that the last two matches and tonight it just wasn't enough. But it was a great opponent and we are really proud of our girls."