Naperville Central sweeps West Aurora
It maybe wasn’t Naperville Central’s sharpest performance of late but certainly better than a month ago at this time.
Just ask West Aurora.
The No. 13 Redhawks turned the tables on an earlier two-set loss at West Aurora, beating the No. 10 Blackhawks 25-20, 25-20 on Tuesday in Naperville for their seventh straight win.
“We found ways to get points when we needed them,” Redhawks coach Brie Isaacson said. “This is a a big win for us to come out, and even not playing well some good things happened. Hopefully we build on it.”
Naperville Central’s win nudges the Redhawks (14-7, 9-1 DuPage Valley Conference) ahead of Naperville North (8-1 DVC) and West Aurora (17-8, 7-2) in a three-horse conference race. West Aurora beat Naperville Central on Sept. 8 in Aurora, at the time dropping the Redhawks to 4-4.
“It’s good to beat a team the second time around,” said Redhawks junior Alysia Baznik. “It definitely motivates us more.”
Both sets were back-and-forth, and in both Naperville Central grabbed control late.
The teams traded 11 ties and four lead changes in the first with the widest margin 3, and West Aurora led 19-17 after a kill and ace by Peyton McKenzie, followed by a Naperville Central hitting error. West Aurora gave back two points on hitting errors, and a pair of Haley Rives aces and a Sammie Condon tip kill over her shoulder pushed the Redhawks ahead 22-19. Condon and Emily Borta had blocks and West Aurora sailed a hit long for set point.
“I feel like our defense did really well against their hitters,” Baznik said. “We’ve been doing a better job communicating on the court these last few weeks.”
The teams combined for 10 net violations, and twice Naperville Central was called in the net in allowing West Aurora to creep ahead 16-14 in the second set.
A West Aurora hitting error gave the Redhawks back serve, and Naperville Central proceeded to reel off a decisive 10-0 run. Two Baznik aces started it, and the fourth West Aurora error during the run made it 24-16.
Blackhawks Wisconsin-bound standout Lauren Carlini had 8 kills, 7 digs and 8 assists, but two inaccurate sets led to hitting errors during the Redhawks run.
“We played them tough the first match. Everything clicked that night,” West Aurora coach Kari Nicholson said. “It didn’t flow for us tonight. If you have a night like that against Naperville Central they’re going to beat you.”
McKenzie added 6 kills and 2 aces for West Aurora and Kaitlyn Richter 5 kills and 2 assists. Nicholson couldn’t recall West Aurora being in contention for a volleyball conference title, let alone winning one. Baznik had 7 kills, 8 assists and 2 aces and Kendall Ward 5 kills for Naperville Central. Condon added 4 kills and 3 blocks.
It’s a busy week for the Redhawks, who hosted Wheaton Warrenville South for its Volley for the Cure night Monday and travel to Glenbard East’s Autumnfest tournament this weekend.
“I think we looked a little tired tonight because we’ve played so many matches lately,” Isaacson said, “but so has everybody.”