Girls volleyball: Wolkow, Downers Grove North defeat Glenbard West
If Gwen Wolkow were a baseball pitcher, her arm likely would have been wrapped in ice Thursday night.
But the Downers Grove North sophomore had no soreness after ripping 20 kills to lift the host Trojans to a 25-22, 25-17 victory over Glenbard West in a Class 4A regional championship game.
It was an amazing performance by Wolkow, a 6-foot outside hitter who did her damage while making only 3 hitting errors.
"No, actually it feels fine," Wolkow said while patting her arm. "It feels amazing, just being able to put the ball down over and over."
Jacki Lucas added 9 kills and Grace Beacom had 4 for the third-seeded Trojans (21-16), who will face second-seeded York at the Glenbard West sectional semifinals Monday. But their contributions were overshadowed by Wolkow's dominance.
Downers North senior setter Grace Malone had never seen anyone get that many kills.
"No, I don't think I have," Malone said. "That's like a whole set.
"She did awesome. But she's gotten a lot better since the beginning of the season. I'm so proud of her."
Wolkow ripped 4 straight kills as the Trojans opened a 6-1 lead on Malone's serve. That was the first of three streaks of at least 4 kills.
The sixth-seeded Glenbard West (18-19) could not stop her, though it wasn't like they weren't trying.
"She's one pretty nice player and we knew it going in," Glenbard West coach Pete Mastandrea said. "We were hoping to break her down, wear her out, but she proved some pretty good resilience there and showed she could hit through the block, around the block, off the block and did everything. So hats off to her."
Wolkow had 10 kills in each set and the Trojans needed them because the Hilltoppers held a lead in both despite her barrage.
Glenbard West, which got 10 kills from senior Virginia Curtis, had leads of 15-12 and 17-15 in the opener, but Wolkow delivered consecutive kills on each occasion and later served the second of her 3 aces to give Downers North a 23-19 lead.
The Hilltoppers jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the second set before Lucas pounded a pair of kills to get the Trojans back in. Downers North trailed 12-10 when Wolkow erupted for five straight kills and later served three straight points to give her team an 18-13 cushion.
Malone, who dished 32 assists to go with 13 digs and 9 service points, recognized Wolkow had the hot hand and reacted accordingly.
"I just kept setting her," Malone said. "She mixes it up. She hits deep, she hits short."
Wolkow, who fittingly blasted the match-ending kill, made sure the West Suburban Silver rival Hilltoppers came up short in their bid to play a sectional match on their own court.
"We'll be proud hosts of Downers North on Monday," Mastandrea said. "We'll have our conference represented well and we're always a family, so I wish them well."