Girls volleyball: Willowbrook storms past OPRF in sectional final
Nothing seemed to faze Willowbrook's volleyball team on Wednesday night.
The Warriors entered the Class 4A Hinsdale Central Sectional final looking to change their recent history. Despite numerous negative factors in play against the Warriors at Hinsdale Central, they remained laser-focused against nemesis Oak Park-River Forest.
After losing the first set, the Warriors roared back thanks to a solid effort from their entire lineup to post a 23-25, 25-23, 25-12 victory over the top-seeded Huskies.
Not even an official's mistake which awarded a point to the Huskies late in the first set seemed to bother them.
"This has been such a special season and most of us are seniors, so we didn't want to go out (with a loss) and the whole season we wanted to go to state," Willowbrook star senior Calli Kenny said. "One of the things that also affected our adrenaline was not only losing the first set, but also the score was wrong, so we were all just mad but in a good way. After the second set, we had the confidence and momentum."
Nor did their history with the Huskies, who handed the Warriors their lone defeat of the regular season.
"We had nothing to lose because we had already lost to them, so we just wanted to go out and play (hard)," Calli Kenny added.
Willowbrook junior setter Hannah Kenny said the scoring mishap, which occurred with the Warriors up by one point late in the first set, motivated the team.
"I think the first set we were pretty mad because I'm pretty sure there was a scoring (mistake)," Hannah Kenny said. "We weren't sure we deserved to lose that first set, but we came out in the next set blazing. We all just wanted it so extremely bad that in the huddle we were ready to go out there."
Even the Warriors' stinging playoff defeats in the last few years didn't affect them.
In 2022, Willowbrook's season ended in a sectional final loss to St. Charles East.
Two years ago, Willowbrook lost to Mother McAuley in a supersectional.
"We lost to them earlier in the season," Willowbrook coach Irene Mason said. "But from the beginning of the season, we had our goals and expectations set high."
The Mustangs (38-1) set a new program record for wins in a season and extended their streak to 19 victories in a row to set up a date with Joliet West at the Bolingbrook Supersectional on Friday at 6 p.m.
Mason said her team showed tremendous resolve defeating the Huskies.
"We showed tonight by coming back from that interesting first set against a great Oak Park team," Mason said. "This shows what type of team we have. I think a lot of people question our abilities sometimes, our strength of schedule but we've shown it against some of the best teams in the state. A lot of people think we're a two (player) show team, but we're more than that. We have a lot of players who contributed. We need that every night to keep moving forward."
The Kenny connection was one of the key factors in the Warriors reaching the supersectional, but the comeback was fueled by countless big plays from throughout the lineup. Calli Kenny was the driving engine in the victory, dropping down key kills and aces while inspiring her teammates with her steady play and inspiring speeches.
Her younger sister, Hannah Kenney, was all over the court, digging big shots from OPRF's Grace Nelson, a Kansas recruit, while playing strong at the net. Eliza Ramey and Elle Bruschuk helped neutralize Nelson in the final two sets with numerous key blocks, along with Anna Marinier's solid play at the net. Junior Lily Javier was instrumental with momentum-building kills.
"I think in the last few weeks we've really been playing as a team," Calli Kenny said, a Marquette recruit. "Our outside hitters have been really stepping up so well, just getting smart shots and blocks. Our defense was exceptional too. Our middles, too. We had some clutch swings in the middle. This win gives us a lot of confidence. This was our only loss of the season, so to come back and beat them makes us feel really good but our job is not done."
Ramey said the Warriors relied on a collective effort to knock off the Huskies (31-7).
After leading the majority of the first set, the Warriors had to regroup following their disappointing loss. Calli Kenny pounded two crucial kills to help erase an early six-point deficit, then added two kills in a row to give her team a 17-12 lead. The Huskies battled back to seize a 20-19 lead, but Ramey followed with three block kills and Calli Kenny added a pair of kills to secure the second set win.
In the third set, the Warriors ran out to a 14-7 lead, partly due to three consecutive kills by Calli Kenny. Hannah Kenny punched the Warriors' ticket to the next round with the match-winning kill.
"Everybody played so good today and we wanted it so bad," Hannah Kenny said. "I think we are at our best when we spread the ball around. Everybody got kills, everybody's defense picked up and everybody's serve-receive picked up. It really was a team effort. That's what really helped us win. Obviously, my sister played a great game, but everybody had really key and important moments where they stepped up big and did what they were needed to do. Coming out with so much fire and energy, we shut them down (in the third set)."
Benet d. Glenbard West:
As far as Benet is concerned, any one of its cast of characters can take the spotlight at any moment.
One minute, it's Lynney Tarnow towering high at the net for blocks; the next, it's Taylor Kunka subbing in for lethal aces or a combination of Ava Novak or Gabby Stasys powering down kills. Of course, any rally begins with the surefire digging ability of Aniya Warren.
The grand combination leads to, well, titles.
"There's lots of people that can get it done on every given night," Baker said following an ultimate 25-22, 25-18 sweep over Glenbard West in the St. Charles North Class 4A Sectional final. "Some teams, you've got a couple of people that you can kind of game plan for. It's difficult to do that here. You camp on someone, we're not afraid to go to anybody that's in the front row."
Benet (37-2) won its fourth sectional title since 2018, and 11th in the tenure of coach Brad Baker dating back to 2008. The Redwings now advance to Friday's supersectional match vs. New Trier at Bartlett High School at 7 p.m.
Tarnow, at 6-foot-5, is at the very center of it. Tarnow finished with seven kills and four blocks.
"[When] you play high-level club volleyball, you get comfortable playing against this level of competition," Baker said of Tarnow. "This is just what she does all year round."
In the first set, both teams traded marginal leads to be deadlocked 21-21. Hilltoppers freshman Cara Herbert had just put two aces down to tie it after being down by four.
Benet recovered by coaxing an attack error, an ace from Kunka and another attack error to force match point. GBW senior Marin Johnson powered down one of her seven kills to stave it off for one more point, but the Redwings outlasted a back-and-forth volley that landed outside the box for the 25-22 win.
In set two, the Redwings managed to build more sizable leads of four or five points at a time, thanks to efforts from Stasys (four kills), Audrey Asleson (three kills), Sophia Chinetti (four kills) and more. Benet soon pulled away, thanks to a sequence of consecutive blocks from Tarnow and Stasys and an Tarnow ace to force match point at 24-16.
The Hilltoppers were kept alive by kills from senior Avery Herbert (four kills) and senior Breccan Scheck (five kills) to make it 24-18, but Benet sophomore Ellie Stiernagle's dump kill finished it off.
Glenbard West (35-4) had only one loss outside of the state of Illinois - a 2-1 loss to Ozark High School in Missouri back in September. The rest was all to Benet.
"You play a team enough, you better know what they're doing, right?" Baker said. "You better have an idea, but then you've got to perform ... you've got to get it done on the court. You've got to get it done when it really matters and they did. They're very good. Very good. The past few times we played them, they won service-pass, and I thought we were able to win that tonight ... that's a very good team. Very good passing team and well-coached."
The Hilltoppers certainly had a season to remember.
"When you look back at our season, we went 35-4," Hilltoppers coach Dan Scott said. "Three of the losses came to this team that went second in state and returned the entire starting lineup. The other loss was to a team in Missouri. This was the only team in Illinois we lost to and it felt like a state championship match today. I think that caliber was there and they're going to go on and do really good things."
- Jake Bartelson
St. Francis d. Deerfield:
At 6-foot-3, it goes without saying that Addy Horner is a force at the net.
On Wednesday she put on an unforgettable show 30 feet away from it as St. Francis swept Deerfield, 25-19, 25-9, to win the Class 3A. St. Francis Sectional championship.
St. Francis (30-8) advances to Friday's Class 3A Antioch Supersectional against Belvidere North (30-6) at 6 p.m.
"When Addy gets on a roll she's hard to stop," Spartans coach Lisa Ston said. "She served excellent. To not make an error and be able to serve that aggressive is impressive."
After dropping the opening set, Deerfield (29-8) took an early 3-2 lead in the second set before junior Emma Delaney's kill tied it at 3-3 and sent Horner up to the service line.
She wouldn't leave it until St. Francis was ahead 15-4.
During the lengthy scoring run, Horner, who has committed to Wisconsin, had four straight aces before Deerfield coach Jonathan Bolek called a timeout. Once play resumed, Horner buried another one of her sinkers, as she had the Warriors struggling to just getting a partial hand on the ball before it crashed to the hardwood and another point was added on the scoreboard.
"I can't remember serving for that long," Horner said. "I give credit to my coaches. We practice serving everyday for at least 10 minutes. We do a ton of drills with pressure on you or you're (practicing being) up. If you miss, you run. We do super-pressure drills that have really prepared me well for these situations. The coaches have really prepared me the last three years."
Even after the Warriors found a way to return Horner's serves, they didn't have an answer for the Spartans' potent attack at the net. Senior Shay McMillen had three kills, senior Gabriella Rendina had another, Delaney teamed up with Rendina on a block and the Warriors committed a hitting error during the remarkable scoring run.
"We have a big bond and when we start off a run we keep it going and going," McMillen said. "It's crazy the team chemistry we have. We always have a positive attitude with everything we do. We are always pushing each other and cheering each other on. It's an ongoing happiness that just doesn't get any better."
While one huge scoring run broke open the second set for the Spartans, a couple smaller ones played a big part in their ability to win the first set.
After trailing 8-4, the Spartans scored six straight to pull ahead 10-8.
When the Warriors rallied back and the teams were deadlocked at 11-11, the Spartans used a 5-0 run to take a 16-11 lead.
And when the Warriors rallied to get to within 21-18, an errant serve followed by a kill from senior Anna Paquette gave the Spartans a 23-18 cushion. They'd finish the set on a nifty pass backward from Horner to Delaney for a thunderous kill before a Deerfield error ended it.
- Chris Walker