Girls volleyball: Waubonsie Valley shares DVC title with Neuqua Valley
The last night of the regular season in high school girls volleyball can be anticlimactic.
It's a good time to have senior night. Postseason seeds are set and a lot of conference title races are over.
That wasn't the case Thursday night when Metea Valley hosted Waubonsie Valley. The Warriors needed a win for at least a share of the DuPage Valley Conference title and that's what they got, beating the Mustangs 25-8, 25-17 to win their first league title since 2011 and first since joining the DVC.
A Naperville North win over Neuqua Valley, also played Thursday night, would have given the Warriors the conference championship outright. But Neuqua Valley won 25-23, 25-21 to share the title.
"We're real excited. It was one of our goals going into the season," senior Rianna DeMyers said.
Waubonsie coach Kari Galen said experience has been crucial to the Warriors' success this season.
"They have worked really hard. The group of seniors has been playing together for a couple of seasons," she said. "And we always make sure everything is working together at the same time."
Set 1 went quickly. The Warriors (25-10, 8-2) jumped out to a 10-3 advantage and never looked back.
It was the same start in Set 2. Waubonsie cruised to an 11-3 advantage, but Metea (16-19, 2-8) was not the same team as it was earlier, cutting the Warriors' lead to 4 three times before two kills each from Gabi Croll and one from DeMyers switched the momentum back to Waubonsie at 22-15. Kills from Croll and DeMyers were the final two points that clinched the set and match victories for the Warriors.
Metea coach Dave MacDonald said that Thursday night's match was kind of reflective of the season that the Mustangs have had.
"We've either started out slow and then came back or we started out fast and then slowed up. But our defense really stepped up in the second," he said.
Gabby Zawadzki led Metea with 6 kills. Annika Altekruse had 3 aces and Morgan Rank was tops with 5 digs.
The Mustangs are seeded 10th in the Class 4A Bolingbrook sectional. Metea opens regional play Tuesday at Oswego against seventh-seeded Naperville North.
"If we play like have at times this season, we can be downright dangerous," MacDonald said.
Waubonsie hit 7 aces with Jessica Molina finishing with 4 and Melissa Walden with 3. Croll led in kills with 6. Tess Stawski had 12 digs and DeMyers 4 blocks.
The Warriors are seeded third in the Bolingbrook sectional and host their own regional, opening play Tuesday with a semifinal match against 14th-seeded Batavia.
Waubonsie's Trinity Evans said that what has worked for the Warriors this season will need to continue to work in the postseason.
"We have focused really hard to do what we can to accomplish each goal," she said.