Girls volleyball: Hard work pays off for St. Viator with sectional championship win over Burlington Central

St. Viator senior captain Avery Albritton was very excited, and it was hard to blame her. She had just been at the center of a team photo in which she held the Class 3A IC Catholic Prep sectional trophy, the Lions’ prize for defeating Burlington Central, 25-10, 25-20, in Thursday’s final in Elmhurst.

“This team has been working since July,” said a beaming Albritton. “We have been working so hard — emotionally, on the court, off the court, physically. And it just feels so good to finally feel something for that and be able to accomplish something for it.”

The Lions (32-7) now have four sectional titles in program history and three over the past five seasons after missing out on one in each of the previous two years. They will face Prairie Ridge in the Streamwood supersectional at 6:30 p.m. Monday.

“This is an experience I wanted them to have,” St. Viator coach Charlie Curtain said. “I've had it a couple times, but I wanted them (to have it). They put in amazing effort. They've been working all year for this, and a lot of them have been on varsity three or four years, so this is like the culmination of all that. They executed the game plan to a tee tonight. They played very, very well. It was just a fun atmosphere.”

Erin Lynch led all players with nine kills. Olivia Walberg was second on the Lions with seven, Albritton had six, and Mary Francl added five. Libero Gabby Vitullo served two aces.

The Rockets (20-16), who were seeking their first sectional title since they were the state runner-up in 2008 — before this year’s juniors were born — saw how tough of an opponent they were facing in St. Viator. During the first set and the first part of the second, they didn’t serve for more than two consecutive points.

Trailing, 17-9 in the second set, Central rallied for five straight points to cut the deficit to three. It also held off two match points at the end to get within four before the Lions finally ended the match.

“They don't get phased easily,” said Rockets coach Julia Smagacz. “And this has happened throughout the season, too, where you win set one, you lose set two, and then, they come back and win set three. That happened on Tuesday (in the sectional semifinal against Resurrection). Their mentality, I think, has grown so much over this season, and I think just having that mental strength to come back and fight, I think, helped them.”

Senior captain Haiydn Schatz paced the Rockets with eight kills. Ainsley Wilson had the second-most on the team with three, and Joselyn Johnson was just behind with two.

When St. Viator held a 10-5 lead in the second set, the ball was hit so high that it stuck in the ceiling and never came down. The rally was ruled dead and replayed, and the Lions extended their lead when it finally was played to its completion.