Girls volleyball: Kushner, Naperville North stop Metea Valley
Naperville North's Sarah Kushner barely broke into the scoring column in the Huskies' semifinal win Tuesday over West Aurora at the Class 4A Metea Valley regional.
That was then.
The 5-foot-9 super junior left her imprint all over the stat sheet Thursday in the regional championship match against the host Mustangs.
Kushner had 17 kills, 10 digs, 2 aces and 2 blocks to lead the fourth-seeded Huskies to a 26-28, 25-17, 25-19 victory and a berth in Monday's 5:30 p.m. sectional semifinal at Waubonsie Valley against top-seeded Minooka.
"Our game plan, at least my game plan tonight, was to make our seniors' season last as long as possible," Kushner said. "There's nine seniors, and I wouldn't want any of them to end on a bad note when we're not playing our best, so I'm doing everything I can so they can have the best season."
Naperville North (30-7) rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the second set to grab a 19-12 advantage behind Kushner's 5 kills, 1 block and 2 assists. Her kill from the back row ignited a 13-5 run in the third set as the Huskies raced to a 17-12 lead.
"I didn't even know what was going on at the time because I was cheering for everyone else," Kushner said. "Everything was going our way. Everybody was making great plays. I'm so happy our team performed well tonight.
"Our focus all week was on our side," she added. "We knew we had the talent, we knew that we worked hard this entire season, and we knew that we were prepared. We just had to show that tonight."
Tyra Burton added 11 kills, Ari Budnik had 8 kills, Mackenzie Schulte dished out 21 assists and Caroline Surges added 16 digs as Naperville North avenged a 25-19, 25-19 loss to Metea Valley on Sept. 19.
"We did better in all skills today," Naperville North coach Jen Urban said. "We passed better. We hit better. We blocked better. We have seen (the Mustangs) play a lot this year so the girls did a great job executing the game plan."
That game plan included getting the ball to Kushner as often as possible.
"Sarah has been our rock all year," Urban said. "She leads our team in just about every category. She is someone we depend on every night. She doesn't get rattled. She's mentally tough. I'm glad she's on our team."
Mikaila Dowd had 17 kills, Emma Aske added 6 kills, 2 blocks and 5 digs, Kailee Bass had 4 kills and 3 blocks and Sydney Atchison distributed 32 assists for senior-laden Metea Valley (29-8), which will graduate 11 players off its 17-girl roster.
"Give credit to Naperville North," Metea Valley coach Dave Macdonald said. "They were digging our big hitters in that second and third set. They made the adjustments between the sets and were using any part of their body necessary to get the ball up."
Naperville North's defense led to second-chance opportunities that the Huskies were able to cash in on. Metea Valley, on the other hand, struggled at times to put the ball away.
"We probably got on our heels a little bit at times, but for the most part the girls just keep battling back and back and back," Macdonald said. "They could've easily just laid down and let the loss happen, but they fought back."