Girls volleyball: Willowbrook headed to state for 1st time

Entering Friday night's Class 4A Bolingbrook supersectional, neither Joliet West nor Willowbrook had ever advanced to the state finals.

But, both teams had been on the supersectional stage before - Joliet West last season and Willowbrook the season before.

So, it was understandable that there would be some nerves.

Willowbrook (39-1) showed very little sign of jitters, however, and the Warriors earned their first state appearance with a 25-18, 25-14 win over the Tigers (36-4).

"We've never done this before," said Willowbrook senior Calli Kenny, who formed a formidable 1-2 punch with her junior sister Hannah. "It really hasn't sunken in yet. It's kind of surreal. I can't describe it.

"We were really confident after our win against Oak Park-River Forest [Wednesday for the sectional title], and we were all super focused for this match. We were confident at the start, and getting off to a strong start gave us more confidence."

The Warriors, who will play Benet Academy at 7 p.m. Friday in the first Class 4A semifinal at Redbird Arena, were in control for most of the match, breaking an early 5-5 tie in the first set and going on a 4-0 run that included kills from Calli Kenny and Lily Javier, for a 9-5 lead. Joliet West countered with a 6-2 spurt of its own to tie it at 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 before Willowbrook, behind the serving of Anna Marinier, scored the next seven points. Marinier had three aces in the run as the Warriors seized control.

"We focused on mental toughness," Willowbrook coach Irene Mason said. "The girls stepped up and were prepared. In a match like this, a lot of time the first team that settles in comes out ahead, and our girls settled in pretty quickly.

"I am proud of the way the girls worked together. If anyone made an error, they shook it off and the next person would make a play. It's been that way all season. We can't do this without everyone on the team knowing and playing their roles."

Joliet West, which won its second straight sectional title and set a program record for wins in a season, showed a spark late, getting a kill each by Ava Grevengoed (10 kills) and Peyton Darguzis (3 kills) and a four-hit violation on Willowbrook to close to within 22-18. The Tigers got no closer in the first set, though, as Willowbrook scored the final three points, including a kill by Calli Kenny (8 kills).

"The last few weeks, we have really come along as a team," Kenny said. "This was a whole team effort. We showed that we aren't just a two-man show. Everyone stepped up and played great tonight.

"Once we got the momentum, we weren't going to give it up."

That momentum carried over into the second set as the Warriors got two kills from Hannah Kenny (7 kills) and one each by Calli Kenny and Elle Bruschuk to grab a 5-2 lead and put the Tigers in catch-up mode. The Willowbrook lead increased to 14-8 before West got an ace by Julia Adams. Willowbrook then got two kills each from Marinier and Hannah Kenny to move out to an 18-12 lead. The advantage swelled to 23-13 on a free ball kill by Javier before Natalia Harris (4 kills) got a kill for West's final point of the season.

Despite the loss, West coach Chris Lincoln couldn't be prouder of his team.

"I couldn't have asked for a better season," he said. "It's disappointing to lose, but Willowbrook is a very good team and they played very clean volleyball. It's hard to beat a team when they play like that. The Kenny sisters are so good, and they are fun to watch, but not so fun when you are on the other side of the net.

"This team has had so many successes this year. Back-to-back sectional titles for the first time ever, a program record for wins, the first Southwest Prairie Conference championship. There's a lot for these girls to be proud of."

St. Francis d. Belvidere North:

Technical difficulties before the start of Friday night's Class 3A Antioch girls volleyball supersectional empowered all - players, coaches, officials and spectators - to sing the national anthem a cappella.

The warbling continued after St. Francis' 25-8, 25-20 defeat of Belvidere North.

Folks sang St. Francis' praises.

"Their players don't make errors," impressed Belvidere North coach Amanda Hicks said of the reigning 3A state champions. "They play very clean volleyball."

The Spartans (33-8) were super pristine in the first set after trailing 2-1. St. Francis senior right-side hitter/setter and Wisconsin-bound Addy Horner (6 kills, 12 assists) struck 3 of her 4 aces during a dominant stretch in which she served 12 consecutive points.

St. Francis led 16-3 and went up 22-7 on another ace, this one delivered by senior setter KK Dumpit (10 assists, 6 digs).

"We executed and served aggressively," said Spartans coach Lisa Ston, whose talent-laden crew will face Morton - a 25-21, 25-17 victor over Providence Catholic at Friday night's Kankakee supersectional - in a 3A state semifinal at 5:30 p.m. next Friday at Redbird Arena in Normal.

Dumpit's sneaky power tip secured the penultimate point of the first set.

In set 2, Belvidere North (32-7) showed resolve early and late. The Blue Thunder trailed 9-6, fell behind 19-9, and then got as close as 23-18. An ace by senior Bree Messenger (3 kills, 4 digs) highlighted a 9-4 spurt.

But St. Francis - possessor of 13 girls volleyball state championship plaques - was too strong, too nimble, too resilient. And way too good.

"Our energy was high because of how well we were serving and communicating," said Spartans senior libero Catherine D'Orazio, who catapulted her 5-foot-7 frame to reach a sinking, shallow dig and prolong a second-set point won by St. Francis.

"We put in a ton of work this season, and we're peaking at the right time," added the 6-3 Horner.

Senior outside hitter Anna Paquette ranked second among Spartans in kills with 5, followed by junior middle Emma Delaney (4), senior hitter Gabs Rendina (3), senior middle Addy Jones (3) and 6-0 OH Shay McMillen (2).

D'Orazio paced her club in digs with 13. Paquette and senior defensive specialist Liv Basel finished with 8 and 7, respectively.

Jones popped for a team-high 3 blocks, one more than Rendina's total.

"It's a pretty determined group," Ston said of her squad, which features 10 seniors. "So many know the feeling of playing downstate, and there's no better feeling than playing on the final weekend of the season."

- Bill McLean

Benet d. New Trier:

Perhaps Gabby Stasys will consider drinking a Celcius energy drink more often.

The combination of intense practices, a team-focused environment and her own high-level athletic motor plays out explicitly on the court for Benet.

Add in - on a much lesser level - the Celcius she chose to drink prior to the Class 4A supersectional, and it all came together for the Redwings junior middle hitter in the grandest of ways. Wherever she was on the court, Stasys hit home and starred with eight kills and four blocks to pace Benet to a 25-19, 25-14 victory over New Trier on Friday to ensure a trip to Normal for the state tournament.

"I'm just so excited. I don't want this to be our last game. I love this team. I want to keep playing with them and get to state. I want to get to state," Stasys said. "[The seniors and all] putting in that much effort really showed me how much every single person wanted it. ... I thought the defense was amazing. We made so many good hustle plays."

Benet advanced to its ninth state tournament under coach Brad Baker and the second consecutive after placing second last year. The Redwings (38-2) will face Willowbrook at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 10, in Normal.

"We talk about: We never know who's night it's going to be," Baker said. "It can be Lynney [Tarnow] one night, Ava [Novak], Audrey [Asleson]; tonight, was Gabby. It's great to see. We really have confidence in everybody on every night."

"Gabby means a whole bunch [to this team]. She just brings a lot of fire overall," Benet junior libero Aniya Warren said. "Before the game, we drive together, she just goes: 'I'm really feeling it. I'm fired up for this game. I want it. I really want it.'"

In the first set, New Trier (29-8) built a 14-11 lead, but a kill from Stasys stopped the momentum to kick-start the 4-0 run to take the brief 15-14 Benet lead.

"We expected it to be point-for-point. We don't expect these games to be blowouts," Baker said on defensive poise in the early deficit. "We've been in lots of these situations where you get down two or three, you know, you play to 25 for a reason; not to 15. So, there's lots of times where we're in these situations and you've got to just stay calm. There's a reason we play the schedule we do because we want to be in as many as these tough matches as possible."

Later in the set, tied at 18, Benet got hot again to rip off a 6-0 run fueled by consecutive Trevians attack errors, an ace from Warren, and kills from Novak, Ellie Stiernagle and Tarnow for match point. The Trevians answered with a kill from Lily Long, but a final put-down by Sophia Chinetti ensured the 25-19 victory.

In set two, Stasys took command with two kills and two blocks to help put Benet up 12-5. Stasys had her follow-up breakout in the set with a kill-block-kill sequence to push ahead 21-12. Chinetti had a block, which was answered by Trevians senior Alison Smith's kill to make it 22-13.

A Stasys kill and Trevians attack error put the Redwings on the brink of victory. A final kill from New Trier senior Ana Vetter staved off elimination, but Chinetti's kill clinched the supersectional title.

"I think our defensive effort was unbelievable," Warren said. "We just went after everything. We didn't let any point go away [without a fight]. Anything that looked like it was dead, I feel like we just went after it and gave us our all."

New Trier last advanced to state in 2013, but has plenty of memories to lean on.

" ... More than just the wins and losses," Trevians coach Hannah Hsieh said. "It's so fun being around the girls. Their singing; their laughing. All of the team stuff we get to be a part of. It's not even just the volleyball. It's the group [overall]."

- Jake Bartelson, Shaw Local