Redhawks' Kuhn brings the thunder

Brie Isaacson has said it before - if her Naperville Central Redhawks can just get Dani Kuhn the ball, Kuhn knows what to do with it.

Kuhn sure was on the money Tuesday.

Kuhn's 15th kill of the night put away a 25-23, 23-25, 25-20 win over cross-town rival Naperville North. It pulled Naperville Central (15-12, 8-3 DuPage Valley Conference) a game behind Naperville North (20-7, 9-2) and West Chicago in the conference race.

"I just love hitting the ball," Kuhn said. "Those last few points are some of the most important, so I love just killing the ball and getting it over with. My adrenaline rushes so much."

Kuhn, a first-year varsity player, earlier came up clutch in the first set. With Naperville Central trailing 23-21 Kuhn smashed a pair of kills for the 14th tie of the set. Another Kuhn kill put the Redhawks ahead 24-23, and Naperville North's 10th error of the set finished it.

"She's had a little bit of a learning curve, because the game's a lot faster at the varsity level," Isaacson said of her junior outside. "But I think she's starting to feel confident that when the game's on the line she wants the ball."

The two teams had split two previous meetings - Naperville Central winning at Naperville North and the Huskies returning the favor at the Wheaton Classic.

Both those matches only required two sets. This one was more compelling. The teams combined for 27 ties and 10 lead changes in the first two sets alone. At 23-23 in the second set, Huskies senior Audrey Wilson put down a kill after a long rally and Alissa Valentine served an ace.

Six ties ensued in the third set. Nicole Sarby gave Naperville Central the lead for good with a kill and block to make it 14-12. It was 19-18 after a Kaia Schwartz kill, but 4 critical Huskies errors allowed the Redhawks to surge ahead 23-19. A Chloe Lupina kill set up Kuhn's kill for the match.

"It was a great volleyball match," Naperville North coach Jennifer Urban said. "We put ourselves in position where we could win the match. We just made too many errors at the end."

"There were points in the match where North let down a little and we were able to take advantage," Isaacson said, "and there were points where we did the same. But I thought we battled from the first point to the last."

Wilson had a stellar hitting night for Naperville North with 18 kills in 21 attempts. Schwartz added 8 kills, Sidney Sauter 4 and Catie Cremin 10 digs.

"We're just looking to the next conference game," Wilson said. "We want to learn from this but move on. Try to make it as positive an experience as we can."

Sarby had 9 kills and 4 blocks and Courtney Abrahamovich 11 digs for Naperville Central. The Redhawks, 7-1 in their last eight DVC matches, host West Chicago next Tuesday. West Chicago hosts Naperville North two nights later.

"In the past when we've set down to make goals the girls have said, 'we want to get to state,'" Isaacson said, "which is every team's goal. With this team, the focus has been on a conference championship from the start. We had a couple stumbles along the way, but we found a way to get back in it."