Tigers complete Naperville sweep
Just a couple days ago, Wheaton Warrenville South coach Bill Schreier was thinking about staging a complaint with the schedule makers.
Now, after completing an impressive sweep of both Naperville North and Naperville Central over the last three days, the Tigers girls volleyball coach can start to think about guiding his team to its first DuPage Valley Conference title in 10 years.
After handing Naperville North its first conference loss on Tuesday, Wheaton Warrenville South welcomed Naperville Central to town on Thursday and edged the Redhawks 27-25, 25-22 to stay unbeaten atop the league race at 8-0 (18-1 overall).
"I'm happy to make it through this gauntlet this week," Schreier said. "Some would say it's bad scheduling, but it happens. It was good to see them focus the whole time."
The Tigers, led by veteran setter Anne Luhrsen, remained calm throughout the match. Facing a 25-24 hole in the Game 1, they closed out the opener with three straight points. In the second game the Redhawks (15-4, 5-3) fought back from a 16-9 deficit to close to within 1 point on two occasions late -- 22-21 and 23-22. But the nationally ranked hosts closed the match thanks in large part to a pair of powerful kills from Mollie Kolosky and Rebecca Zlabis.
"It was exciting this week," said Luhrsen, who finished the match with 23 assists and 3 kills. "It definitely gives us good momentum going into the second half of the DVC. These are the matches you play for."
Despite playing the Tigers tight in each game, Naperville Central coach Brie Isaacson felt her team was missing a little something.
"Bottom line is we didn't play hard enough to win," she said. "Unfortunately we can't get it back. They outworked us. As a coach there's nothing worse than that."
Still playing without senior setter Megan McMahon, who is expected to return from an appendectomy next week, the Redhawks made the Tigers work hard to pull off their big sweep of the Napervilles this week. Emily McGee had 11 kills and Rebecca Heath 10, while sophomore Nicole Sarby came up with a big block that broke a 24-all tie in the opener.
But when it came time to deliver the plays needed to pull out the games, it was the Tigers who came through in the clutch.
"We can be a really good team when we come out fighting," Redhawks outside hitter McGee said. "We just weren't getting the big plays that they were getting at key times. We showed at times how good we can be, but when push comes to shove we have to step it up."