Waubonsie Valley clinches UEC title
Waubonsie Valley volleyball coach Kristen Stuart knows one thing when her girls are “silly on the bus ride to road matches, it's a good sign.
The ride home Tuesday must have been a riot, too.
The Warriors led almost from start to finish at Neuqua Valley, winning the rivalry match 25-21, 25-16 to clinch the Upstate Eight Conference Valley Division championship.
“We played a couple teams earlier in the season and got a little frazzled, Warriors senior Ally Simmons said, “but we came here really calm. We were listening to really loud music on the bus, joking around. We were in our zone.
Martha Stewart put down 11 kills, Lisa Stunicka 7 kills and Simmons 5 kills and 3 blocks for Waubonsie (24-10, 6-0), which shared the UEC title last year with St. Charles East before it split into two divisions.
“It's already a rivalry game the big part was just not getting too nervous, Stewart said. “It was more a mental thing than anything else. We came out ready to play and worked really well together.
Neuqua (20-9, 5-1) scored the first point of the match, but a Stewart kill keyed a 4-0 Waubonsie run and the Warriors led the rest of the game. The widest margin was 4 points but at 22-21 Waubonsie, Neuqua had a service error and hitting error. The Wildcats committed 18 errors for the match to Waubonsie's 13.
“And they were at crucial times, Neuqua coach Kelly Simon said. “Absolutely.
Neuqua's lone lead in Game 2 came at 2-1, but Waubonsie quickly recovered and took the lead for good at 5-4 on Stewart's third kill of the game.
“One thing we do is break matches down into mini-games of 5 points, Simon said. “Typically, we do that very well and tonight we didn't do that a single time, meaning we didn't beat them to 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 points. Point runs were definitely an issue.
Simmons pointed to Waubonsie's passing and blocking as key in keeping control of the match. At 18-14 in Game 2 the Warriors pulled away with a quick 4-0 run capped by a Simmons block. Simmons and Meagan Mooney later teamed for a block at match point.
“Our passing and our setting was perfect, Simmons said. “We knew we just had to play our game and we did it. The whole time we'd come back to the huddle and say, ‘confidence, one point at a time.' We wouldn't let them get more than two balls in a row.
Mooney had 18 assists and Jill Galovic 10 digs for Waubonsie, which could meet Neuqua for a third time this season in a regional final at Plainfield South Oct. 30. Waubonsie won the teams' first meeting at the Warrior Blast.
For Neuqua, Callie Huebener had 7 kills and 2 blocks, Brigid Campbell 6 kills and a block, Megan Tompkins 8 digs and Stacy Cesario 11 assists.
“I felt like we were much calmer tonight than in our first match with Neuqua, Stuart said. “We were excited, but we were more level. I told them before the match, ‘it's just another match don't put too much pressure on yourself. You're a strong team.'
“They did a great job of serve receive and not letting them run off too many points. We did a great job of siding out and were very aggressive.