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Sandburg comes through in the pinch
Updated: September 20, 2011 9:17PM
No. 10 Lincoln-Way West was pretty darned close to getting the better of top-ranked Sandburg on Tuesday when the Warriors were hit by a force they couldn’t have seen coming.
And just as fast as Bridget Lebert did the damage, she was back on the bench.
The 5-foot-10 right-side hitter was on the floor for exactly one volley during the Eagles’ 25-21, 25-14 SouthWest Suburban Conference crossover victory.
It came late in Game 1. The host Warriors had just ripped off three points in a row to close to within 23-20 when Eagles coach David Vales sent in Lebert.
Setter Kara Kentner had other options, but opted to feed the ball to Lebert on the right side.
The swing was sharp. The hit explosive. The result a kill.
Sandburg closed Game 1 via a kill by another sophomore off the bench, Meghan Hutchinson, and went on to dominate the Warriors in Game 2.
Dakota Hampton had 10 kills, Paige Bendell six and Kelly Finlay, Kristy Theisen and Kristen Bailey four each for Sandburg (9-2), which was also led by Kentner (14 assists), Sami Knight (11 assists) and Nicole Bing (13 digs).
Lincoln-Way West (13-4) was paced by Sarah Wegrzyn (9 kills), Rachel Johnson (4 kills, 3 digs), Annie Wegrzyn (3 kills), Caleigh Galvan (10 assists) and Kelly Staack (8 assists).
“I was nervous, but I had to just calm myself down and do what I needed to do,” Lebert said of her late heroics in Game 1. “I’m so fortunate to have these girls helping me through everything and telling me what I need to work on. I’m just really happy to be on this team.”
It wasn’t Lebert’s first pinch-hitting appearance that resulted in a home run.
“Against Stagg (a three-game victory on Sept. 12) she came in in a tough spot and had so many kills,” Kentner said. “From then on I’ve had confidence in her whenever she comes into the game. She’s one of my No. 1 options.”
Sandburg is No. 1 in the rankings, mostly because of a two-game victory Saturday over previously top-ranked Marist at the Wheaton-Warrenville South Tournament.
“We just mentally prepared and we took it point by point,” Kentner said. “We treated it just like we were playing any other team, and played to our strengths.
“Winning that match really boosted our confidence. Even though we lost the second match (Saturday), we were still just happy that we beat Marist.”
West has had a few bobbles since going 10-0, but played Sandburg tough in Game 1. Sandburg caught its first big wave with a four-point run to go up 23-17, but the Warriors fought right back via two kills by Annie Wegrzyn and another by Galvan.
“In the first game we battled hard,” West coach Rory Harrison said. “But then there were some decision-making things with setting and where we were putting our shots down that really didn’t go our way in the second game.
“Sandburg did a great job. They have a really diverse offense. But we just really didn’t make good choices in the second game.”
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