For Naperville C, it's their island

Naperville Central won Illinois high school girls volleyball's version of "Survivor."

The Redhawks were the last of four nationally ranked teams left standing in the Class 4A Naperville North sectional after a wild and long night of heart-stopping action Thursday.

After dodging 4 match points by Downers Grove South to escape with a 22-25, 28-26, 27-25 victory in the second semifinal, Naperville Central swept Benet 25-23, 25-11 in the championship match.

"It was a little crazy," Redhawks coach Brie Isaacson said. "We (sneaked) away with that Game 3 (in the semifinals) and then I think we just kind of rolled into the second match. I think, strangely enough, playing two in a row helped us tonight instead of being the team to sit because we picked up right where we left off."

Naperville Central (35-4) had a 15-minute break before warmups began for the title match, but junior outside hitter Emily McGee said that didn't bother the Redhawks.

"If anything, it just kept us warm," said McGee, who unloaded a match-high 14 kills in the final.

In Game 1 Naperville Central jumped ahead 5-1 and stretched the lead to 14-6 before Benet pulled into a tie at 21. From there the Redhawks scored 4 of the final 6 points, including the game-winner on a power tip by setter Megan McMahon.

In Game 2 the Redhawks rode a 9-1 run to a 17-7 advantage.

Rebecca Heath added 12 kills for the Redhawks, who have won 20 in a row. They'll play Collinsville in the Pekin supersectional at 6 p.m. Monday.

Ariana Mankus' 7 kills paced Benet (35-4).

"I definitely thought we came out flat in both games," said Redwings coach Brad Baker, who club edged Naperville North 27-25, 15-25, 25-23 in the first semifinal. "We lacked energy sitting around for an hour and half. I thought it was going to be to our advantage, but I don't think it was."

In its semifinal Benet recovered from an 11-5 deficit in Game 3 to run its record to 8-0 in three-game matches.

Natalie Patzin landed 14 kills, including 8 in the third game.

Naperville North's Colleen Ward racked up 23 kills as the Huskies (33-5) went down fighting.

"Both teams played a great match," Huskies coach Jennifer Urban said. "Unfortunately we came up a little short in the third game."

Downers South (31-7) gave Naperville Central everything it could handle in the other semifinal.

The Mustangs denied Naperville Central 4 game points in the second game. Then the Redhawks denied them twice on match point before scoring the last 3 points to force a third game.

In Game 3 Naperville Central sidestepped 2 more match points before scoring the final 3 again to win. Nicole Ramey recorded the final 2 on a block and a kill.

McGee and Downers South's Mo Oestermeyer finished with 15 kills apiece.