Crawford, Naperville N. cool off Naperville C.
Once Ashley Crawford kept her cool, she heated up in a hurry.
Naperville North’s senior outside threw down 6 of her 13 kills in the third set, and the 15th-ranked Huskies rallied to win at No. 14 Naperville Central 21-25, 25-23, 26-24 in Tuesday’s pivotal DuPage Valley Conference match.
Crawford, shut out of the kill department for a set, came alive in the second and third.
“Anytime you play your rival it’s all about emotion,” Crawford said, “and the first game I definitely let my emotions get to me. In that second game something just clicked.”
Naperville North’s win forges a three-way tie atop the DVC between the Huskies (22-7, 11-2), Redhawks (21-13, 11-2) and West Aurora with one match to play for each. Naperville North hosts Glenbard North on Thursday, Naperville Central is at West Chicago and West Aurora plays Glenbard East.
Just as important for Crawford, she walked out a winner in her last match against Naperville Central.
“There was a lot at stake,” Crawford said. “We always want to keep our fans proud.”
The host Redhawks led the third set 21-18 after an Alysia Baznik kill, one of her 12. Crawford answered with a kill, and two more Crawford kills — the second a tip over a double block pulled the Huskies within 22-21. Two Naperville Central errors nudged Naperville North ahead.
Crawford, to say the least, was clutch.
“As a captain, that’s my job,” she said. “When the game isn’t going our way our captains have to step up and turn things around.”
The Redhawks reclaimed the lead and got to match point up 24-23 on kills by Nikki Connors and Maddie Siambekos, but a Naperville Central net violation gave the Huskies back serve. Corinne Gajcak put down her 15th kill for Naperville North, and a Redhawks net violation ended the match.
Naperville North flipped the script from the teams’ first meeting. In that match the Redhawks came back from a set down and weathered eight match points for a three-set win.
“It was a very unconventional match,” Huskies coach Jennifer Urban said, “but a typical North-Central match with all the runs and changes in momentum. We showed a lot of poise in that third game.”
Redhawks coach Brie Isaacson took the close loss in stride.
“It was a good match. It could have gone either way,” Isaacson said. “I was proud of my kids. They played hard.”
Naperville Central won the first set behind Baznik’s 6 kills, and nearly staged a miraculous comeback to win the second. Down 23-15, the Redhawks reeled off an 8-0 run, tying it on a Sammy Condon kill.
“That we made that run, I felt good going into the third set,” Isaacson said. “We did a lot of good things. It’s those little details that in October we need to clean up is what is preventing us from taking the next step.”
Baznik added 10 digs, 16 assists and 3 aces. Connors and Siambekos had 8 kills and Emilk Borta 7 kills for the Redhawks, playing their fourth match without injured outside Kendall Ward. Colleen Larson had 15 digs and Emily Kwak 29 assists for Naperville North.