Warriors make Huskies work hard
After blowing out Waubonsie Valley 25-14 in the first game, Naperville North looked like it would cruise to an easy Class 4A Waubonsie Valley girls volleyball regional title in Aurora.
Too bad the host Warriors had a different idea.
Unfortunately for Waubonsie Valley (24-10) it didn't have enough in the tank to force a third game, dropping the second game 31-29.
The Warriors jumped out to an early 6-1 lead in the second game and led for most of the way; the Huskies (33-4) didn't tie it up until 21-21. The Huskies eventually grabbed their first lead of the second game at 26-25.
The Huskies grabbed the match on back-to-back errors by the Warriors.
"We knew we would get their best effort tonight," Naperville North coach Jennifer Urban said. "We knew they would have a lot of energy in the second game because they knew they had to win the second game or their season would be over. It was a nice game for us because we were able to show how composed we could be."
In the playoffs some teams would prefer to have quick matches early on to make sure they would be fresh later on in the state tournament, but the Huskies didn't mind.
"I like matches like this one," Naperville North outside hitter Colleen Ward said. "I don't like them so much that I wish we would always have them, but it is nice to know we can win tough matches. We expected a match like this though."
Waubonsie Valley coach Kristen Stuart said there was something worse than playing the No. 1 seed.
"I hate this format," Stuart said. "We had a tough match against Providence early in the day and then we had 15 minutes between matches. It's tough because you have to prepare for two teams during the week of practice as well. I hope that will change in the future."
Ward had 19 kills and Christine Wu had 9 digs and 2 aces in the win.
"Colleen Ward is just amazing," Stuart said. "She is a very tough player. Wu came up with some amazing digs to keep the ball alive on a lot of possessions. She is just as amazing as Ward is."
Joslyn Drew had 10 kills and Stephanie Demos had 10 digs in the loss.
"We are so excited for the sectional because we get to play on our home court," Naperville North outside hitter Audrey Wilson said.