Naperville C. edges North again

Score another win for the Naperville Central girls volleyball team in its rivalry against Naperville North.

The Redhawks ran into the Huskies' gym and walked away a three-game winner 25-23, 23-25, 25-21, giving Central its second three-game victory over North this year.

“It came down to a difference of a few points, Redhawks coach Brie Isaacson said. “They are a good team, too. We could play 10 times, who knows how many times we win or they win. We got them the first time, we're excited to get them the second, but we know how good they are. We don't want to play them again.

Tied 23-23 in the first game after trading points for the entirety of the game, Central squeaked out a win with a kill from senior Veronica Gall and an unforced North error.

Game 2 saw North open up a 14-11 lead before 9-2 Central run gave them a 20-16 lead.

The Huskies (14-13, 7-4 in the DuPage Valley Conference) called a timeout and went on a 9-3 run to close out the game 25-23.

“I thought the match was kind of full of 3-point runs for the first two games, back and forth, North coach Jennifer Urban said. “When the game is 23-23 both games, it's anyone's match.

The Redhawks (14-13, 8-3) went up 8-2 in the third game, but North again clawed out of a deficit, tying the game at 10 apiece.

But the Redhawks' block behind senior Chloe Lupina and sophomore Sammy Condon put Central in position to control a lead and break open a 21-13 advantage before getting the win.

“(The block) is huge for us because it's how our defense sets up around it, Isaacson said. “So a good block, even if they don't touch it creates great opportunity for our defense to dig. So for them to go up together, get set and seal, which they were doing, allowed us to play better defense as a team.

The Huskies, despite their best efforts, were unable to dig themselves out of one last hole.

“We got down by 5 in the third game and came back and the went down 5 again, Urban said. “When you're down that much at the end of the game, it's a lot harder to recover.

Senior Emily Koch led North with 9 kills, while junior Ashley Crawford had 7.

Setter Sarah Romberg had 27 assists and Jessie Fiala had 13 digs.

Gall had 7 kills and 4 digs for the Redhawks, while Alysia Baznik (25 assists) and Lupina (5 kills) were instrumental in the third game.

Central, which got an 11-kills, 9-dig performance out of senior Katie Battle, made the most out its scoring chances.

“We were just trying to play right in the middle, not too high, just very consistent, Isaacson said. “I think we played with confidence, but we'd go up (several) points and they'd find a way to come back. We just found a way to get out of it. As a coach, we try to eliminate those lows, but Naperville North is a great team. At no point did I think that match was over until it said ‘25.'