Girls volleyball: Neuqua Valley wins possible regional final preview

Naperville North and Neuqua Valley put on quite a show to close the DuPage Valley Conference girls volleyball season Thursday night, but the two teams may very well have more of the same on display in the postseason.

The Wildcats spoiled senior night for the DVC champion Huskies by outlasting the hosts 25-21, 27-29, 25-20 to complete a sweep of Naperville North, which still claims the league crown at 6-2. But if each team advances in next week's first round of the Plainfield North sectional, the rivals will meet again next week in a Class 4A regional final.

With senior outside Sarah Kushner slamming four early kills, Naperville North (28-6) jumped ahead 7-3 and later extended its lead to 15-6 before the Wildcats caught fire and closed the opener with a 19-6 run.

"That was awesome," Neuqua Valley junior Taylor O'Malley said of the comeback in the first set. "Our team is pretty good at that … if our team gets down no one quits. Everyone keeps fighting, keeps going. We beat them before so we knew we could do it and it was awesome."

But on a night when momentum shifts came and went in a flash - often after a spectacular dig or a big attack - the Huskies showed why they're the No. 2 sectional seed by getting the equalizer after fending off two match points. That second set was tied at 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27 before a big block from Ellie Hall made it 28-27 and a net violation on the Wildcats gave the set to the Huskies.

"I think that the momentum was definitely shifting back and forth, whether it went to their side or right back to our side," Huskies setter Grace Selman said. "I think overall it was not a bad match, but hopefully we'll be seeing them next week. They're a great team, but I definitely think we can bring a better team result on our side."

The decisive set was tight throughout and the Huskies took an 11-8 lead after Molly Russell set up Kayla Griesbach for a kill, but the Wildcats just kept on attacking with several players coming up big on the night. O'Malley finished with 11 kills but also had 15 digs, while libero Bailey Houlihan had 14 digs on a night when both defenses excelled at extending the action.

"There were a lot of momentum swings," said Wildcats coach Kelly Simon, whose team finished 5-3 in DVC play. "I lot of really great rallies and a lot of people stepped up tonight. Now we have to have that against them because they're just too good. We served really well, but we need to work on several things if we see them again because they are a great team."

Several players stepped up on both sides. Kushner led the Huskies with 14 kills while Faith Johnson paced the Wildcats with 12 kills.

"It was amazing," said Johnson, who was just one of many targets set up by Karly Miller, who had 35 assists for Neuqua. "They're really, really good. When we play tough competition we get fired up. Everyone was just swinging for kills and when we put them down our energy went up."

Selman enjoyed the atmosphere and the strong play from both teams but is surely hoping for a better outcome should the Huskies get another crack at the Wildcats in the regionals.

"It was definitely fun to have a lot of our seniors play tonight and a lot of people see the court that don't always see the court," she said. "And we started out with fire, but we need to bring more the next time we see them. To bring it the entire time."