Girls volleyball: St. Edward upsets Rockford Lutheran
SOMONAUK - St. Edward wanted no part of a third game against a surging Rockford Lutheran squad.
The Green Wave played nearly flawless volleyball for a game and a half against the top-seeded Crusaders in Thursday night's Class 2A Somonauk regional championship, but looked shaky as a seemingly comfortable 14-3 lead in Game 2 turned into a 24-24 tie.
However, junior Dominique Washington stepped up and made good on the Green Wave's second match point opportunity with a blistering kill off the block as they escaped with a 25-14, 26-24 upset victory.
St. Edward (18-15), which entered as the No. 5 seed, advanced to face host Fulton in Tuesday's sectional semifinal.
"I just wanted to put that last ball down. We didn't want to go to a third game," Washington said. "We kept up our energy, forgot the mistakes we made and came together as a team."
"I think the nerves got to us, but this is a huge step for our team to be able to finish that," said St. Edward coach Jaime Dovichi. "In matches past, we would have let it slip away."
Early in Game 1, it was a battle of outside hitters as Washington traded kills with Rockford Lutheran's 6-foot-2 senior Abby Woollacott.
With Washington in the back row, Green Wave senior setter Gabriella Tripicchio turned to senior middle Megan Barth. Barth contributed 3 clutch kills, a solo block, and a service ace as St. Edward forged in front 16-13.
The Green Wave tallied 9 of the game's final 10 points as they flustered Woollacott and the Crusaders with stout blocking and solid defense.
"We adjusted our blocks a little bit, which meant that our back row defense could do a better job placing themselves. That's why we started to dig a couple more balls," Dovichi said.
Rockford Lutheran (31-6) unraveled early in the second game, committing 8 errors as Maegan Gross ran off 10 points from the service line.
The Crusaders finally hit their stride with a 6-point run to close the gap to 17-11, then crept within 20-17 with another 4-point spurt.
Freshman Erin Kremer delivered a huge kill to put St. Edward in front 24-22. MacKenzie Zanello answered with a pair of kills for the Crusaders, but a setting miscue set up Washington's kill for the win.
Washington finished with a match-high 12 kills along with 7 digs while Barth chipped in 7 kills. Tripicchio handed out 21 assists and was stellar defensively with 11 digs.
"It got a little nerve-racking, but we wanted it so much," Tripicchio said. "We walk through our halls every day and see that ball from '08 state in the trophy case and we want to do the same thing."
The team dedicated the victory to former Green Wave football player and Class of 2015 graduate Dan Howell, who passed away Monday.
"In the pep talk we dedicated this game to him and his family for all the things he's done for St. Edward's. This one's for him," an emotional Tripicchio said.