Girls volleyball: Naperville North outlasts St. Charles North
It goes against conventional wisdom, but Naperville North's youth won out over St. Charles North's experience in as tight and pressure-packed of a match as possible Tuesday night at the Class 4A East Aurora sectional.
The Huskies didn't lead by more than 2 points in any of the three sets. They trailed 22-19 in the third set, then went on their longest run of the night - 5 points - to take a 24-22 lead on their way to pulling out a 30-28, 23-25, 25-23 thriller.
And they did it with a starting lineup with 2 freshmen outside hitters, plus sophomores filling key roles over a valiant effort from a St. Charles North squad with three Division I bound seniors.
"They are going out and playing and having fun," Naperville North coach Jennifer Urban said. "Keeping it loose on our side and that's when they are playing their best. Holding their composure and fighting back when we were down at the end of that third set really shows the determination on their side."
Sixth-seed Naperville North (28-10) will play No. 1 St. Francis (35-3) for the sectional championship Thursday night looking for its third straight upset after knocking off No. 3 Geneva and No. 2 St. Charles North (34-4).
"I think it's a benefit coming in as the underdog because nobody expects much from you," Naperville North middle Anna Folliard said. "It's the best feeling upsetting these teams."
The match started late after a fire alarm caused the entire gym to be evacuated. The teams warmed up again, then brought high-level volleyball from the first point until the last nearly 90 minutes later.
Led by Iowa-bound libero Emily Bushman with 27 digs, the Huskies managed to keep points alive over and over again while Northwestern recruit Daley Krage and DePaul-bound Claire Anderson each slammed 20 kills for the North Stars.
"They are a team that battles, they rally all the time," North Stars coach Lindsey Hawkins said of the Huskies. "That was a fun game, the kind of volleyball you want to see especially at this stage of the game. I just wish it could have been a different outcome."
The first set featured 20 ties and 5 lead changes. The North Stars fought off 5 set points - the first three on Anderson kills and the next 2 on winners from Krage - until the Huskies finally won on freshman Sarah Kushner's kill for point 29, and the North Stars hit long for No. 30.
St. Charles North took the biggest team either team had all night, 9-5, early in the second set. The Huskies came back to tie the score 12 more times, the final one at 22-22 on sophomore Ari Budnik's kill. The North Stars forced a third set on two big swings late from Krage.
The teams fought through 12 more ties and 6 lead changes in the final set for a total of 44 ties and 11 lead changes in the match. Two aces from Nicole Thrun helped the North Stars open a 22-19 lead.
The Huskies answered with three key plays from Folliard in the middle to lead 23-22 after most of their offense had been coming from Kushner, Budnik and freshman Kayla Griesbach on the outside.
Trailing 24-22, Anderson's kill kept hope alive for the North Stars before Budnik's kill ended the match.
"It's just about keeping our composure," Folliard said. "You just have to keep fighting on. We have a younger team but I don't think you could tell."
It was a difficult ending for the North Stars especially four-year varsity members Anderson, Krage, Jaclyn Taylor and Sam Lappin who won back-to-back Upstate Eight Conference River titles.
"They gave it everything they have and that's all you can ask for at the end of the day," Hawkins said. "Naperville North is amazing defensively and they made it tough on us too in terms of serve-receive. They served really well and passed well. It came down to who was going to make less errors and at the end of the day we made a few more errors blocking and serving than we typically do."