Girls volleyball: Downers North takes edge off Metea Valley party
With a cupcake in hand to celebrate her 16th birthday after her Metea Valley girls volleyball teammates had just sung birthday wishes to her, there wasn't much more Mustangs junior Mikaila Dowd could have asked for on a Saturday afternoon.
The Mustangs had knocked off Neuqua Valley earlier in the day for their 20th win of the season and then stormed ahead of Downers Grove North 11-4 in the decisive third set in the championship of the Waubonsie Valley Warrior Blast. So there were plenty of reasons to celebrate.
But the smiles and celebrations would have been even grander if Trojans 6-foot-1 outside hitter Clare Delaplane hadn't helped rally her team to the title with a dominating stretch late in the final set. She recorded six straight kills as Downers Grove North pulled off the 25-16, 16-25, 25-20 comeback.
"Obviously it would have been nice to celebrate a championship along with cupcakes," said Metea Valley coach Dave Macdonald, whose team is 20-5 after falling just shy of its third tourney title this fall.
"(Delaplane) is a great player. That's one of the best outsides we've seen so far this season."
Delaplane had a match-high 16 kills, including 7 in the third set after her powerful close. But Dowd, who had 12 kills and 4 aces in the final, had a solid finish herself.
After the 12-8 Trojans had turned that 11-4 hole into a 21-15 lead, Dowd and the Mustangs fought back to within 22-20 before eventually coming up short.
A winner by Jaida Dowd started the comeback, and then her younger sister had back-to-back powerful slams on the left side to make it 22-18 and, following a Trojans error, one more kill from Jaida Dowd got the Mustangs within 22-20. From there Delaplane and Downers North finished things off.
"That was really awesome, but it just wasn't enough," the birthday girl said of the Mustangs' late rally. "We dug ourselves a hole. Then you can either play against a team that is going to respond to you going hard after them or play a team that's going to roll over. They were obviously a team that was going to respond back."
Mikaila Dowd admitted that Metea Valley may have suffered a bit of a letdown after the emotional defeat of Neuqua Valley in the semifinals. The Wildcats, who went on to edge the host Warriors in three sets in the third-place match, had beaten the Mustangs twice earlier this month.
"We were feeling so comfortable and so energized with that win (over Neuqua) that we forgot that we have to fight hard again," she admitted.
Trojans coach Mark Wasik was impressed with his team's composure after falling behind in that third set. Not only did Delaplane's attacks power the comeback, but strong serving and hitting from Margaret Mahlke and a great defensive effort led by Kendall Tucker's 15 digs also played key roles.
"It started at the service line," Wasik said. "Marg Mahlke steps back and starts hitting the zones really well and the defense goes to work and we start getting some blocks, and some good digs and transition attacks. Then we've got her on the right and you have Clare left front, and one feeds the other. All of a sudden it was something like 13-13 and I was like all right, now I know we're going to win this match. We were right back in it after that."
Delaplane and Tucker were named to the all-tourney team for the champs, while Mikaila Dowd and Claire Rothenberger picked up honors for the Mustangs. Rothenberger had 19 digs in the championship match.