Girls volleyball: Naperville North figures out Neuqua Valley the third time
When the Naperville North girls volleyball team put the finishing touches on a 25-21, 25-22 Class 4A regional final victory Thursday on its home court, it should come as no surprise the celebration was a little more joyous beyond just a regional final victory.
The Huskies, seeded second in the Plainfield North sectional, and the Wildcats, a seventh seed, are two outstanding teams.
Naperville North won the DuPage Valley Conference title, but Neuqua Valley (22-15) beat the Huskies (30-6) twice during the regular season, both in three sets.
"Neuqua is a highly skilled team and we knew each set would be intense," said Naperville North senior Sarah Kushner.
It wasn't one of those matches where a team build up a huge lead and activate the cruise control. The lead ranged from 1 to 5 points for either team during the course of the evening.
That means a team had to jump into the fray from the beginning if it wanted a chance.
"We had an intense amount of focus and confidence to attack every ball and point," said Huskies senior Grace Selman, who led her team with 22 assists.
Naperville North will have to take that intensity to the next step when it faces sixth-seeded Lockport, which won its own regional Thursday, in a 6:30 p.m. sectional semifinal Monday at Plainfield North.
"This was definitely the best match of the three," said Naperville North coach Jennifer Urban. "We did a better job executing on our side of the net. During the first two meetings I was not happy. I knew we could play better."
A kill by Kushner put the Huskies up 22-17 late in the second set. Neuqua, though, scored three of the next four points and a hitting error by the Huskies put the Wildcats to within 23-21. Kills by Ellie Hall and Kushner secured the set win and match victory.
Neuqua coach Kelly Simon said Naperville North prevailed in both sets for different reasons.
"We led in earned points 18-15 in the first set, but out of Naperville North's first eight points, seven came from Neuqua errors and that was it. In the second set Naperville North's last seven points were from kills," she said.
Simon said the Huskies are capable of going far in the postseason.
"They are a great team and we wish them well. We just got beat tonight," she said.
Ashley Kushner led the Huskies with 13 kills and Linnea Dale had 5.
For Neuqua, Faith Johnson led with 11 kills and Karly Miller was tops with 25 assists.