Girls volleyball: Naperville North keeps season going with win vs. Metea Valley
The stakes go through the roof when the girls volleyball playoffs start. You lose, that's it for the season.
Naperville North was well aware of that going into Tuesday's Class 4A Oswego regional semifinal against DuPage Valley Conference foe Metea Valley. And when the Huskies could build up an advantage, they did so and kept a tight grip on both sets, winning the match 25-17, 25-18.
The Huskies, seeded seventh, return to Oswego on Thursday for the regional final against second-seeded Plainfield North, which dispatched the hosts in three sets in the first semifinal Tuesday.
"There's a mentality to live on one more day. You don't want the season to end," said Naperville North junior Ellie Hall, who finished with 6 kills. "We were ready. We had a big warmup at school and nothing was going to stop us. Metea rallied and we knew what we had to do to stop those rallies."
Set 1 saw both squads exchange the lead or tie the set up. A kill by Rachel Rahtz gave the Huskies (24-12) a 7-6 lead and Riya Savsani took over serving. When Metea got the ball back, Naperville North was up 12-6 with the help of hits from Hall, Eva Hartung and Paige Lauterwasser.
"The first set, dig or pass is crucial in getting those points," Savsani said of building up rallies. She finished with 8 digs.
A block by Metea's Regan Holmer pulled the Mustangs (16-20) to within three at 15-12, but Naperville North outscored 10th-seeded Metea 10-5 the rest of the way.
The Mustangs led early in Set 2 before the Huskies' Ashley Kushner took over service and the team scored five straight points with two kills each coming from Hartung and Hall to lead 10-6. Hartung also finished with 6 kills.
Metea continued to stay strong and pulled to within three twice, on a kill from Sam Rueda that made it 12-9, and a hitting error by Naperville North and ace from Annika Altekruse that decreased Naperville North's lead to 16-13.
A hitting error by the Mustangs pushed the Huskies' advantage to 21-14, and the lead never got smaller than six after that.
"Our team has a lot of heart. We fought so hard tonight," said Metea coach Dave MacDonald. "We made some small little mistakes, a couple of hitting errors and that opened the door."