Waubonsie rallies to overcome St. Charles North
Lisa Studnicka and Waubonsie Valley aren’t prone to panic when they get down in a match, and it’s easy to understand why.
They’re used to it.
“In practice every day we’ll start sometimes down 15-20 and it’s the first to 25,” Studnicka said. “It keeps us focused.”
No. 20 Waubonsie rallied in both sets Wednesday to beat St. Charles North 25-21, 25-21 for the Warriors’ sixth straight win.
Waubonsie coach Kristen Stuart hopes Wednesday can provide a boost into a big stretch of matches. The Warriors (18-10) are at Glenbard East’s tough Autumnfest tournament this weekend, then turn around to play Neuqua Valley next Tuesday for the Upstate Eight Valley championship. Waubonsie’s last loss came to Neuqua at the Warrior Blast, where the rivals split two matches.
“It’s a good win for us going into the weekend,” Stuart said. “At times I wasn’t happy with the unforced errors we made, but it was good to see the girls fight back.”
St. Charles North (17-10) used a 7-1 run to grab an 11-8 lead in the first set. Lauren Madziarczyk and Jillian Stolzenburg both put down 2 kills during that stretch. A pair of Stolzenburg jump-serve aces pushed the margin to 16-12, and a Waubonsie hitting error made it 17-12.
North Stars coach Lindsey Hawkins wasn’t exactly lulled into a false sense of security.
“We didn’t play our game at all,” Hawkins said. “I felt like Waubonsie was dominating most of the match. To their credit they played some great defense and they had great ball control. We couldn’t break it, and it got into our heads.”
Waubonsie eventually came back to tie it at 18-18, a Rachel Minarick tip kill and ensuing kill down the line knotting it up.
The two teams tied twice more, until a kill and block by Brittany Rampersad gave Waubonsie the lead for good at 23-21. Studnicka’s seventh kill of the set, one of her match-high 13, gave the Warriors set point.
St. Charles North again started fast in the second, a Madziarczyk kill making it 14-8.
Two Rampersad kills and a block, and a Minarick ace quickly pulled Waubonsie within 14-13. Studnicka’s 13th kill off a block and a Minarick tip kill pushed Waubonsie ahead to stay at 21-19. A Taylor Kroge kill gave the North Stars back serve, but back-to-back hitting errors thwarted any further momentum.
Hawkins was surprised at her team’s inability to close both sets.
“We usually finish,” she said. “Both games we were pretty much up and we didn’t close out. When the game’s on the line we need to make sure that we’re bringing everything we have and we’re not just tipping and going down easy. We need to swing away.”
Stuart appreciated her team’s scrap. Lauren Clarke had 19 digs and Studnicka 10.
“I thought our block coverage was good,” Stuart said. “We covered the ball almost every time we got blocked, which was good. I thought Lauren Clarke was phenomenal tonight picking up everything.”
Minarick had 5 kills and 11 assists and Rampersad 4 kills and 4 blocks for Waubonsie.