Plainfield Central pulls upset over Neuqua Valley

Updated: October 27, 2011 9:23PM

Erin Hyland of Plainfield Central was so keyed up for Thursday’s Regional Final that she couldn’t sleep the night before.

Instead, she wrote an inspirational letter to her teammates to tell them how much they meant to her.

And, with Hyland leading the way with 13 kills, four blocks and seven digs, the host ninth-seeded Wildcats went out and played inspired volleyball to upset the visiting third-seeded Wildcats 25-22, 25-20, for the Plainfield Central Regional title.

It was Plainfield Central’s, first regional championship in a decade and it marked the seventh year in a row that Neuqua Valley lost in the regional final.

“I told them I didn’t want to be finished playing with them tonight,” Hyland said. “They’re my girls, they’re my family. We have a lot more to prove. I’m so tired now. This is the last match I’ll ever play on this court.”

Plainfield Central, which defeated sixth-seeded Metea Valley on Tuesday, will take on Lockport in the West Aurora Sectional semifinal next Monday

“I think we were a little under-estimated when they seeded the sectional,” said Plainfield Central coach Jessica Clark. “Our girls played their best tonight and they played as a team. I’m so proud of them. They found the open holes on the other side of the court, and consistently put the ball there. They’ve been doing that all season.”

In the first game, Neuqua (21-16) led by one or two points several times until Plainfield Central (22-15) took the lead at 11-10 and never gave it up. The host Wildcats biggest lead was 21-16 as Neuqua fought gamely to stay in the game but could never get closer than 22-20.

Victoria Swigart, who had seven kills and five digs, put away a kill for game-point.

In Game 2, a Hyland kill put Plainfield up 13-12 and, again Neuqua stayed close until another Hyland kill made the score 22-17 to give the home team the breathing room it needed.

“We stayed together as a team,” said Swigart. “When Neuqua over-passed, we stepped up and got a lot of kills, and that gave us momentum. We have been improving all season, and we’re trying to show people that we can go further.”

“Our offense was on fire tonight,” said Hyland. “When a hitter went up for a shot we knew the ball was going down.”

Shannon Hagen had five kills for the Wildcats and Taryn Trubich had 18 assists.

For Neuqua it was a disappointing ending to a season.

“Give Plainfield Central credit,” said Neuqua Valley coach Kelly Simon. “They were really solid. They made few errors. They executed very well.”

Simon thought the key was that her team was unable to string any multi-point runs together.

“Had we been able to put more points together we could have gotten the momentum we needed,” Simon said. “We really didn’t deserve to lose, but we just didn’t play well enough to win. Though we hate it to end this way, I’m pleased that we stayed unified, we had great leadership and we fought hard throughout the season.”

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