Wildcats keep their heads in the game

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There was plenty of room for error Tuesday night for Neuqua Valley as it opened the postseason against IMSA, but the Wildcats didn't spend much of that allowance in a 25-9, 25-12 victory in a Plainfield North Regional semifinal.

The Titans presented a different type of challenge for the Wildcats (33-3). Instead of a having an imposing front line or athletic hitters, IMSA was just awkward.

"Mentally it's tough to keep the momentum up when you're not quite sure if the ball's going to come back from the other end," Neuqua coach Erich Mendoza said. "When you play teams that run quicker offenses, you kind of expect that they're going to get some attacks and you really have to be on your toes. That was the big challenge for tonight's match: just be mentally prepared to go."

Next up for the defending sectional champions is Joliet Catholic, which beat Plainfield North 25-19, 25-19 in the other semifinal. The regional championship is at 7 p.m. today.

IMSA coach Sim Garrett wasn't sure what his team's record was, but was sure this season has included "too many losses, not enough wins." The Titans advanced to Tuesday's semifinal with a three-game win over Romeoville on Monday.

It was clear from the outset against Neuqua that IMSA would have to take pride in the win over Romeoville, as the Upstate Eight Conference champion got out to leads of 7-1, 12-3 and 20-5 in the first game.

"Neuqua is pumped right now," Garrett said. "I can see that."

The sometimes ragged play didn't prevent Sean Harmon from recording 22 assists, setting the up teammates Derek Menendez (seven kills), Jake Blackman (six kills), Brian Clark (four kills, four blocks), Collin Adler (three kills) and Grant Hedrick (three kills). Brad Stout had six digs.

Because IMSA didn't have the height in the middle that Neuqua had grown accustomed to seeing, Tuesday's work was less difficult for middle hitters Clark and Menendez.

"Yeah, it was," Menendez said. "It was a lot easier than going against North or Glenbard East."

It was the first match for Blackman after missing Neuqua's final two games of the regular season with a left ankle injury. The senior captain wasn't sure if he would play, telling The Sun on Monday in an e-mail that he might sit out the match as a precaution.

Wearing a brace on his injured ankle, Blackman played the entire first game, connecting on consecutive aces. He also started the second game before the Neuqua reserves finished out the match. Blackman didn't look tentative, but did lack some of his usual lift at certain points in the match

"He had some great swings," Mendoza said. "He had that one kill on the right side and he basically bounced it off that kid's head. So it's nice to see that. On that particular attack, he really elevated on that. On some of his outside attacks I could tell he was really jumping as well and he kind of talked about that too. I think part of that is mental and not the physical aspect."