West Chicago stays perfect, beats West Aurora
It's one thing to know what's coming. It's quite another stopping it.
That's what West Aurora found out Thursday night against visiting West Chicago. The Blackhawks knew the undefeated Wildcats would be coming at them with their imposing middle attack ... yet had little luck answering it.
West Aurora became the Wildcats' latest victim by a 25-19, 25-20 score, extending West Chicago's perfect start to 15-0, 4-0 in the DuPage Valley Conference.
"We knew they had a big front line, we knew they would use their middle a lot," West Aurora coach Kari Nicholson said. "We had trouble getting past their block."
Those middles - Kathy Fletcher (6 kills, 4 blocks) and 6-foot-2 Emily Paschke (4 kills, 4 blocks) - presented plenty of problems. Setter Payton Bayless (18 assists, 3 digs) connected with Paschke on several slide plays, and they always seemed to come when the Blackhawks (13-7, 2-2) were about to get back in the match.
"Our blocking was really good," West Chicago senior Jen Konchar said. "We've been focusing on our middles a lot this year, hitting them because they are really good."
A pair of future Big Ten players took the court Thursday. Illinois recruit Lauren Carlini led West Aurora with 10 kills, 3 blocks and 5 assists, while Wisconsin-bound Julia Conard had 5 kills and 3 digs for the Wildcats.
Carlini tried to bring West Aurora back in Game 1. Her jump-serve ace drew the Blackhawks within 18-15. The Wildcats answered with three straight points, two on West Aurora hitting errors and the other on Paschke's kill off a free ball.
Fletcher ended Game 1 by stuffing Carlini's quick kill attempt.
"I thought we had good intensity," West Chicago coach Kris Hasty said. "We made some mistakes but kept coming back. I think that's going to be key is we don't get down, a domino effect, and make mistake after mistake."
Game 2 went just about the same as the first. The Blackhawks held brief early leads at 2-1 and 5-4. West Chicago built a 15-10 advantage on Fletcher's kill before a Carlini tip brought the Blackhawks within 17-16.
That was as close as West Aurora got. Konchar's ace made the score 21-17, Conard's tip pushed the lead to 23-18, and Conard again had the kill on match point.
"I think think it's really impressive," Konchar said of the 15-0 start. "We've been doing really well as a team, and we work really well together."
Katelyn Wright added 5 digs for the Wildcats, who are looking for the first DVC championship in Hasty's 17 years. Key tests await the next two weeks against Wheaton Warrenville South, Naperville Central and Naperville North.
"This could be the year for us if we play our cards right and work together and play as a team," Hasty said. "It's been fun. We know everybody is going to be gunning for us. The word is out, West Chicago has a decent team. We just have to stay focused on what we want to do. (The next two weeks) will be a test for us, and I'm confident we'll come out on top."
Jaclyn Hannon set 9 assists and Lauren Wilson had 3 blocks for the Blackhawks.
"I think our momentum was a little off tonight," Nicholson said. "We were excited in the beginning and they got a couple points and we relaxed a little bit and sat back."