Waubonsie Valley takes its time, edges Glenbard North
Calling a timeout was a given, but the big turnaround was not a sure thing.
Fortunately for host Waubonsie Valley, coach Kristen Didier's stoppage early in the decisive third game of Tuesday night's volleyball match with Glenbard North produced the desired results. After dropping game two and falling behind 5-0 to start the third game, the Warriors returned to the court following the timeout and quickly went on a 10-1 run to retake control of the match.
With the 11-6 lead and momentum on their side, the Warriors closed out the final game to claim a 25-17, 23-25, 25-17 DuPage Valley Conference victory in Aurora.
"In the third game we wanted to make sure we came out with a lot of energy, but we started out zero to five," Waubonsie Valley senior middle hitter Caroline Cordes said. "She called a timeout and she told us this is conference and starting now this is where it starts, so we decided to go out with a lot of energy and we tied it up and got ahead. After that I think we had the momentum the rest of the game."
Cordes, who has committed to play beach volleyball next year at Arizona along with teammate Brooke Burling, ended the long match by putting away an attack off a feed from sophomore setter Laura Severance on the final play of the night.
"We have a lot young players on our team but we're starting to connect really well," said Cordes, who had 10 kills against the Panthers. "We're starting to get the hang of it."
The balanced Warriors (9-6, 2-0) were sharp in the opener, jumping ahead 10-3 following a kill by Burling that was only possible after a pair of saves by Cordes during the rally. A dump shot over the Glenbard North defense by Burling then closed out the opener 25-17.
But the Panthers (6-10, 0-2) put up a bigger fight in the second game and extended the match the distance after Brittany Lim sparked the visitors in the middle game. Lim led the Panthers with 9 kills, and her blast through the Warriors blockers ended the second game.
Even after letting the 5-0 lead slip away in the final set, Panthers coach Anne Bremner was happy with the way her team fought. Trish Torres had 12 digs and freshman middle Maddie Vegryzn continues to improve up front.
"I'm so proud of my girls. I feel like I have the same speech coming back to them," Bremner said of her growing team's number of close calls. "But we're all on board right now.
"At this point we've played the most consistent, high-level volleyball that we've ever played. We know our weaknesses, we are very aware of them. But we go and work on them every day and I'm really impressed with my girls' ability to play volleyball in tough times, to keep their composure and to get themselves in position to win games."