Hinsdale South still buzzing
Hinsdale South's post-match huddle was breaking, and coach Lisa Martinez instructed her girls to “cool off.” But Martinez was still wired long after the gym emptied.
“I'm not a big sleeper during playoffs,” joked the Hornets coach.
Better brew another pot of coffee.
The No. 3 seed Hornets beat cross-town rival and No. 2 Hinsdale Central for the second time this season, this time 25-23, 22-25, 25-18 to advance to the Class 4A Romeoville sectional final.
Danielle Romeo had 14 kills and 15 digs, Melissa Nava 12 kills and sophomore Jessica Brezwyn 8 kills and 12 digs for Hinsdale South (32-6).
“They were so hungry,” Martinez said. “They're used to long, hard rallies from our practices. It's a bullfight all the time in practice, and they were pretty scrappy tonight.”
Ally Davis put down 17 kills for Hinsdale Central (26-12), and back-to-back Davis kills pushed the Red Devils ahead 5-3 in Game 3.
But a 6-0 Hornets run from there turned the match for good in Hinsdale South's favor. Brezwyn and Romeo both had kills and Nava a pair of kills during that stretch, Nava smashing home a kill off a Hinsdale Central overpass to make it 9-5.
“That was great to see,” Martinez said. “Nava didn't have a great regional championship match, and she knew it. To have her get her confidence back tonight was just awesome.”
“It definitely helped that my teammates were there,” Nava said. “They just pulled me aside and said, ‘Hit the ball as hard as you can.' I knew that if anything went wrong they were there for me. It gave me no fear.”
A Natalia Skiba kill pulled Hinsdale Central within 9-6 in Game 3, but that's as close as the margin got. Two more Nava kills made it 12-6.
“When you're behind the eight ball in the third game of a big match it's definitely tough,” Red Devils coach Sheralynn Kellough said, “but we fell apart long before that run ever happened. We didn't play our best ball tonight, we didn't play our style of ball that we normally play and we did too much reacting to what they were doing on the other side of the net instead of running our tempo.”
Skiba had 10 kills and 9 digs and Jamie Netisingha 9 digs in their final match for Hinsdale Central, denied a return trip to the sectional final.
Hinsdale South libero Emily Mead had 13 digs after going to the bench with an injury in Game 1. She also had 16 passes with a perfect 3 rating and just one error.
“That's disgustingly good,” Martinez said. “Emily Mead chipped her damn tooth and came back and played the match of her life. I just felt like we were a complete team tonight. We did a great job of distributing the ball and being dynamic and that is what is going to keep us playing.”