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Girls volleyball: Glenbard North celebrates playoff win

A lot of hard work has taken place in recent years as Glenbard North works to build up its girls volleyball program. Monday night at Downers Grove the Panthers got to enjoy a nice reward.

The Panthers opened the Class 4A regionals with a solid 25-19, 25-22 defeat of Willowbrook to earn a shot at top-seeded Downers Grove North in Tuesday's regional semifinals.

No. 16 Glenbard North (12-24) used solid defense to jump ahead 19-9 and take the opener without ever trailing. The second set was another story; they had to erase a 13-7 lead by the Warriors before completing the sweep and claiming the program's first postseason win in years.

"This is the first postseason victory we've had in five-plus years," Panthers coach Anne Bremner said. "The girls know how hard we've been working. We've been taking baby steps all along the way, and the girls want it so bad."

It may have been a case of nerves that played a role in Glenbard North's struggles early in the second set, but the up-and-comers regrouped well and got back on track.

"Sometimes your own goals get in the way of achieving your goals. They were real nervous. They wanted it so bad so we needed to just calm them down," said Bremner, who called two timeouts early in the second set. "They deserve it. We've been close in years past. Last year we were right there but we didn't have the edge that we had tonight."

Sophomore Maddie Meyers showed off just how much her game has improved this fall, finishing with a match-high 9 kills for a Glenbard North team that also got 6 kills apiece from Anastasia Brown and Maddie Vegrzyn.

"We played exceptional. We really stepped it up in that game and we had really good defense," Meyers said. "We jelled really well and I think it was a great team effort. We have a young team this year but we've been stepping up … inch by inch it's been paying off."

With a 14-8 lead in the opener, Glenbard North pulled away after a trio of kills from Meyers, who displayed some impressive leaping ability, and another winner from Brenda Nguyen.

The combination of a balanced offensive attack and strong defense carried Glenbard North to victory. Sophomore libero Alyssa Torres had 10 digs and Meyers added 9 digs to her all-around effort.

"We knew Willowbrook was going to be a small team that's going to tip a lot and we adjusted our defense," Bremner said. "The girls did a nice job. I felt like we picked up almost everything."

For Willowbrook (11-24), which had beaten the Panthers in three sets at the start of the season, Taylor Balsitis had 5 kills and Katelyn McCann had 7 digs.

"Our girls worked hard and pushed themselves to get every point, they just came up short unfortunately," Warriors coach Irene Mason said. "The defense was great the last few points. In these final games I've been seeing that out of them more and more. Just that defensive intensity that we've been looking for this whole season."

With just four seniors on the roster, Mason is hoping Willowbrook makes more strides in 2018.

"They were a young group to the varsity level so I'm excited to see a lot of them coming back," she said. "We had a big solid group of juniors and it was their first time to varsity. So I'm excited looking to seeing what they do and what they bring going on from here."

  Glenbard North's Alyssa Torres leaps in the air as she and her teammates celebrate their victory over Willowbrook during the Class 4A Downers Grove North girls volleyball regional quarterfinal on October 23, 2017. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Willowbrook's Kaitlyn Karcz blocks a shot by Glenbard North's Maddie Vegrzyn during the Panthers 2-0 victory in the Class 4A Downers Grove North girls volleyball regional quarterfinal on October 23, 2017. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
  Glenbard North's Brenda Nguyen tips the ball over the net past Willowbrook's Emma Barrington during the Panthers 2-0 victory in the Class 4A Downers Grove North girls volleyball regional quarterfinal on October 23, 2017. Mark Black/mblack@dailyherald.com
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