Girls volleyball: Aurora Central Catholic rolls past Lisle

Abby Lester and Vianni Durate offered complementary - and at the same time contradictory - elements for the Lisle girls volleyball team to defend.

Lester, an outside hitter, used her unorthodox hitting style to great effect while Durate controlled the middle for Aurora Central Catholic Thursday evening in Lisle.

In the process, the Chargers easily surmounted what proved to be insignificant early deficits in each of their first two sets against the Lions in the schools' nonconference match.

Once ACC took the lead, Lisle never recovered in either game as the Chargers rolled to a 25-14 and 25-18 straight-sets victory.

Any doubt surrounding the opening set was erased by Lester, the one-time Metea Valley transfer from Naperville.

Lester had both of her aces during an 8-point service run that brought the Chargers (2-0) to the cusp of their first set point.

Lisle was soon down a set on a subsequent hitting error.

The Lions could never find a remedy to the left-handed Lester, who was equally effective from the front row.

"Lefties usually play on the right side, so I think it presents a little challenge for the other team," said Lester. "This (ACC squad) is one of the closest teams I have played on."

Durate, meanwhile, was a force from her middle-blocker position. Like Lester, a senior, Durate patrolled the Chargers' middle with near impunity.

Durate would ultimately lead both teams with 7 kills and 3 blocks.

Lisle had early second-set leads of 4-1 and 7-2, but Durate and Co. seized command with a combination of serving prowess - the Chargers collected 9 team aces - compounded by too many Lisle hitting errors.

ACC, with a Durate block as its showcase, used a 10-2 second-set run to take a 12-9 lead never to be relinquished.

"In practice we work together until we are literally drenched in sweat," Durate said. "We put everything into our practices thanks to coach Michelle (Chavez). We know that volleyball is a game of imperfections. (Chavez) says to practice like you play. We have been doing that a lot."

Lisle coach Jamie Buhnerkemper had to construct a last-minute offensive attack after

Faith Vock, the bedrock of the Lions' twin-setter look, suffered an injury in practice. As a result, Erin Hammer had all 12 of the Lions' assists.

Paige Thompson had half of the Lions' dozen kills to pace the offense.

Erin Hammer had a match-high 15 digs for Lisle, but its defense was compromised by the Chargers' serving.

"It hurt us a lot," Buhnerkemper said of the Chargers' overall service game. "We had a new libero and a new player playing a new position. That chemistry in the back row really hurt us. For what we came into the game dealing with, pretty impressed we stayed in the game. The energy was there."

Zoey Chavez had the last of the Chargers' aces, and Olivia Hernandez had the final of her 5 kills to end the match.