Girls volleyball: Glenbard West withstands Bartlett challenge
Glenbard West coach Pete Mastandrea got what he wanted, but it wasn't as easy as he would have liked.
The sixth-seeded Hilltoppers needed a late rally in the second set to hold off a stiff challenge from 11th seed Bartlett in Tuesday's Class 4A Downers Grove North regional semifinals.
But the 25-18, 27-25 victory gives Glenbard West (18-18) another crack at Downers Grove North, which beat them in three sets during the regular season. The Hilltoppers and third-seeded Trojans, who eliminated Glenbard East 25-19, 25-16, will meet in Thursday's regional final.
"I was really happy," Mastandrea said. "We wanted a rematch with Downers North. We get it, so let's see what happens."
Makayla Webber and Ella Krudop paced Glenbard West with 7 kills each, but it was senior outside hitter Virginia Curtis who came through in a big way at the end.
The Hilltoppers were out of timeouts and trailing 22-19 in the second set when Krudop's kill brought Curtis to the service line. Curtis, who finished with 6 kills, scored the next four points, beginning and ending the spurt with an ace, to give Glenbard West a 24-22 lead.
"I was just looking to help my team out and I knew that I had to keep all my serves on the court because it was a really important part of the game," Curtis said. "We were down by a few points, but I knew that as long as I took a deep breath every time before I served, I could lead my team to this victory."
Those four service points where the only ones of the game for the 6-foot-1 Curtis, who is not one of her team's primary service weapons. But the three-year starter seems to excel no matter where she plays on the court.
"She's our top dog," Mastandrea said. "Sometimes too much pressure has been put on her.
"We've moved her from right side to left to back row to not back row, but she's the one who had key serves at the end of the game."
Even so, the Hawks (20-14) didn't go quietly. Sophomore outside hitter Madison Hankins spiked back-to-back kills to erase Glenbard West's first two match points, and a net violation on the Hilltoppers nullified the third.
But senior outside Anna Sear's kill gave the Hilltoppers, who were out of substitutions, a 26-25 lead, and a Bartlett hitting error ended it.
"We did run out of subs, which is hard to do," Mastandrea said. "We had our middle (Webber) serving game point. She has yet to serve all year, and I had my 5-foot freshman phenom (Demi Carpio) up in the front row, so that rally needed to end pretty quick."
It did, but this season could be the beginning of a new era for the Hawks, who won 20 games for the first time in coach Robert Schwantz's eight years in the program. Hankins and freshman middle Bria Lomax are solid building blocks for a team learning how to win.
"It's kind of been our M.O. all season," Schwantz said. "When we did lose a first set and were pinned in a corner, they came back fighting and we won some pretty emotional matches that way.
"You never like to put yourself in a 1-0 hole, but they understand that volleyball is a best two-out-of-three sport. So they always come roaring back in Set 2, which we did there."