Haselhorst, Naperville North shine against Metea

Sarah Haselhorst bided her time for two years on Naperville North's bench.

Now it's her time to shine.

The Huskies senior put down 10 kills and showcased her all-around game in a 25-18, 25-16 win over Metea Valley in the Mustangs' first home varsity match in Aurora.

"Club season gave me a long time to prepare and get ready for the school season," said Haselhorst, who plays for Sports Performance 18 Blue. "I knew being the only senior returner I was going to have to step up. It's exciting to get the opportunity to play all the way around now."

Haselhorst dominated the second set, smashing 8 of her kills and adding a block. On match point and Haselhorst on serve, she hit a perfectly placed spike into the back corner of Metea Valley's defense.

Haselhorst displayed the ability to hit from the back row much like ex-Huskies standout Audrey Wilson.

"Being on a team with Audrey Wilson for two years I always idolized her ability to put the ball away," Haselhorst said, "and being someone her team could count on. That's something I want to bring to this team too."

"It's her third year on varsity, but the first year she's getting considerable playing time," Huskies coach Jennifer Urban said. "We're really depending on her to be a strong passer and hitter for us. She's a strong player in all facets of the game. Both our outsides will hit out of the back row for us this year. It's nice to have that other option."

Metea Valley, which did field a 28-5 sophomore team a year ago, went point-for-point with the defending DuPage Valley Conference champion Huskies for much of the first set.

Mustangs sophomore Katherine Gilmore had 3 of her 4 kills in the first set, the third knotting the score for the sixth time at 14-14. A Metea Valley service ace gave the Mustangs their last lead at 15-14.

"They're the best kids on the planet," Metea Valley coach James Milkert said. "I wouldn't trade them for any group. They were very excited to play. Some of the adrenaline might have worn off when things started to not go well."

One of Brianne Honda's 7 kills tied it 16-16, but Naperville North rolled off the next 4 points, 3 on Metea Valley errors.

"I believe that we can compete with anybody; we don't believe that and we don't sustain that now," Milkert said. "I don't want to make excuses and say that it's our inexperience, but I do feel that that's part of it right now."

Naperville North ran out to a 6-1 lead in the second set, Haselhorst putting down an early kill and junior middle Madison Murphy a block. The Huskies themselves have new starters at every position, and were coming off a 2-3 tournament at Plainfield North.

Sophomore Corinne Gajcak had 4 kills and setter Sarah Romberg 10 digs and 16 assists for Naperville North.

"We're just trying ways to be consistent on our side of the net, regardless of who we play," Urban said. "We are getting better in practice each day. We want to see that translate it onto the court. For us to be successful we need to have strong ball control on our side of the net."

Jessica Boddy had 5 kills and Alyssa Entsminger 21 digs for Metea Valley (1-2).