Neuqua Valley rewards Simon's trust

This year's group of Neuqua Valley girls volleyball players has a knack for working out of jams and finishing games strong.

And it's a good thing, since Wildcats coach Kelly Simon is not a big fan of calling timeouts.

In Saturday's championship of the Warrior Blast at Waubonsie Valley, the Wildcats defended their tourney title with a 25-19, 25-20 defeat of Plainfield Central (17-6). While the runners-up used a pair of timeouts in each game, Simon did not stop play a single time while letting her veteran squad take care of its own business.

"She's very particular with her timeouts, but I think that's good. She expects us to work our way out of trouble," said senior outside hitter Claire Groves, who had a match-high 11 kills. "I think at the end of our games, we do a real nice job of limiting our errors and that helps."

The 17-4 Wildcats have had their share of tight battles this season, including a 26-24, 25-23 defeat of rival Metea Valley in the quarterfinals Saturday morning. But setters Kora Kauling and Hannah Ramsdell have both played well and taken advantage of the team's multiple threats. On top of that, Caricia Rodriguez and Nora Meehan have excelled on defense.

Simon has loved watching this team come together this season, especially over the last two weeks when their only losses have come against Benet and St. Charles North, two of the top teams in the state.

"Rather than panicking and getting tense, they are just connecting into one another," said Simon, whose squad faces two big tests this week against Waubonsie Valley and St. Charles East. "They're creating opportunities for each other. I do not like to call timeouts. They know that. I want them to be under control."

In the first set of the title match, Neuqua led just 20-18 before claiming five of the next six points. Plainfield Central committed a pair of late errors, but Sarah Daneliak did add 2 big kills for Neuqua.

In the second set Neuqua led 17-16 before Grove and Daneliak followed with kills and Daneliak added an ace, sending the squad on its way to a sweep and another Warrior Blast crown.

"We have finished very well. And we've been in a hole before and I'm just like, you know, we've been here before. Just take care of it," Simon said.

Plainfield Central coach Erik Vogt, who has lost twice to Neuqua this season, hopes his talented program can grow to one that regularly competes for titles the way Simon's squad has done in recent years.

"Neuqua has a lot of players that have been on varsity a long time," he said. "They have a lot of experience and a lot of kids on their team play high-level club. Overall I think that our ability level has gotten better. Now it's just a matter of putting it together in the biggest matches we see."

Downers Grove North (12-7) swept Rosary in the third-place match, while the host Warriors (14-7) knocked off Metea Valley to finish fifth.