Redhawks get win over Wheaton N.

It was just a matter of the Naperville Central girls volleyball team getting back to basics -- strong serving, accurate passing and powerful hits that couldn't be defended.

After taking care of visiting Wheaton North 25-18 in the first game Tuesday, the Redhawks fell behind 10-5 in Game 2 only to mount an 11-point run to take a 16-10 lead.

They went on to win that second game by the same score, 25-18.

"At the start of that second game, the girls were trying to do too much," said Naperville Central coach Brie Isaacson. "When we go out there and play our game we can do great things."

"We knew, even when we were down, that we were capable of getting a quick sideout and going on a long rally, like that," said Naperville Central junior Emily McGee, who had a match-high 16 kills.

With senior Rebecca Heath serving, the Redhawks (8-1, 2-1) began to dominate at the net.

They were sparked by a pair of solid blocks by middle hitter Nicole Ramey, followed by a pair of kills by McGee.

"It threw them a little when Nicole made those blocks, because it kept them from doing some of the things they wanted to do," Isaacson said.

The last four points of the run came on hitting errors and violations committed by a discouraged Wheaton North team.

"We're an inexperienced team," said Wheaton North coach Carol Kristensen. "We were able to put the loss of Game 1 out of our minds and start the second game strong. But that rally by Naperville hurt our confidence."

Still, the Falcons (4-4, 1-2) recovered to some degree and played the Redhawks practically even the rest of the way.

The Redhawks received stellar play from McGee and outside hitter Heath, who had 8 kills and 9 digs in addition to those 10 straight service points.

"Our outside hitters are one of our team's strengths," Isaacson said. "They both average about 4 kills a game. They were both outstanding tonight."

Naperville Central played without its regular setter Megan McMahon who suffered an attack of appendicitis that will keep her out of the lineup for three weeks.

Kelsey Hoey was solid throughout the match, distributing 25 assists and making it relatively easy for the hitters to adjust to a new setter.

"Kelsey did a great job of setting tonight," Heath said. "We were getting the passes where we needed them to be. We were communicating well on the court."

Amy Groesbeck was the kill leader for the Falcons with 5 and added a pair of blocks. Liz Lee contributed 4 kills, 3 digs and 2 aces.

"We're still adjusting to the 6-2 offense that we're going with this year," Kristensen said. "We have two good setters so we went to a different attack."

Setter Jesse Smith handed out 12 assists, and Aubrey Adams added 6.