Redhawks on a serious roll
The Naperville Central girls volleyball team pulled off a double play.
A week after winning the Mizuno Cup, the Redhawks won Glenbard East's Autumnfest with a 25-17, 25-18 of Joliet Catholic in the championship match Saturday afternoon in Lombard.
"I'm quitting going into the postseason because it can only go down," Naperville Central coach Brie Isaacson joked. "The goal all along was just try to be consistent and I think it's working right now."
The Redhawks (29-4) swept Benet 25-13, 25-23 in the quarterfinals before defeating DuPage Valley Conference rival Wheaton Warrenville South 28-26, 23-25, 25-18 in the semifinals powered by Emily McGee's 15 kills and Rebecca Heath's 11.
Naperville Central confidently controlled much of the title match. The Redhawks jumped ahead of Joliet Catholic (29-4) 10-6 in the opener and later rode a 5-point run to a 20-12 advantage before Nicole Sarby buried an overpass for game point. They used an 8-1 spree to move ahead 17-11 in Game 2 and eventually wrapped up the match on McGee flying down the middle for a kill.
McGee finished with 10 kills on the way to making the all-tourney team. Heath added 6.
"I definitely think that each time we play together we get better at molding as a team out there," said Naperville Central setter Megan McMahon, who was named the MVP of the tourney after putting up 18 assists in the final.
Joliet Catholic's Kelly Murphy, who is regarded as the top senior in the country, landed a match-high 13 kills. The Angels played without outside hitter Annemarie Hickey, who suffered a sprained right knee in the semifinals, then saw middle hitter Brianna Fleener leave the court late in Game 2 when she suffered an injury to her left knee.
"At full strength I would have liked to have seen what we could do," Joliet Catholic coach Christine Scheibe said. "We haven't played Naperville Central all year, and we just didn't have enough to compete with them. They're too good of a team to not go full strength against them."
WW South (29-4) beat Rockton Hononegah 22-25, 25-17, 25-18 for third place behind 11 kills apiece from Mollie Kolosky and Becca Zlabis.
"The big thing was how we were going to rebound after a tough loss (in the semifinals)," WW South coach Bill Schreier said. "I thought we did OK. … By no stretch of the imagination is this the finished product for us."
Benet (29-3) took fifth by tipping Mother McAuley 27-25, 25-22 on Ariana Mankus' 13 kills and Natalie Patzin's 9 kills and 2 blocks.
"It was a good tournament," Benet coach Brad Baker said. "We went 4-1 and our one loss was to the team that won it."
Glenbard East (18-4) placed 10th after losing to Providence 25-14, 24-26, 25-19 despite Amanda Peterson's 13 kills and 8 assists.
In a preview of Tuesday's showdown for a share of the Upstate Eight Conference title, Waubonsie Valley (23-9) defeated St. Charles East 22-25, 25-23, 25-18 for 13th fueled by Kassie Kadera's 33 assists, Joslyn Drew's 12 kills and 2 blocks and Nicole Salmon's 11 kills.