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Waubonsie Valley edges out rivals Neuqua
| Corey R. Minkanic~For Sun-Times Media
Updated: October 18, 2011 9:07PM
As far as regular season volleyball matches go, there couldn’t have been much more on the line than there was in Tuesday’s Neuqua Valley/Waubonsie Valley battle.
“Senior Night, conference championship, what else can we say to put more pressure on them?,” Waubonsie coach Kristen Stuart said.
With everything that was riding on the match, Waubonsie came out strong and took care of business against its rivals. The 26-24, 25-10 win gave the Warriors the Upstate Eight Valley title and propels them into the start of regionals next week.
“We’ve been so pumped up for this game,” said Waubonsie’s Lisa Studnicka, who led both teams with 12 kills in the win. “Everything was riding on this match, so everybody had to step up.”
Early on, it was Neuqua that came out strong. The Wildcats held the lead until Waubonsie (22-12 overall) stormed back to tie the match at 18-18. It was nip and tuck from then on. Danielle Vandenburg put down one of her four kills on the night to tie it at 23-23 for Waubonsie. Katie Campbell followed with a block that gave the Warriors a 24-23 lead. Studnicka’s ace ended the game and gave Waubonsie an emotional win in Game 1.
“I know that we were really pumped up for this match, but sometimes that can work against you when you’re so emotional that you can’t focus,” Stuart said. “I think that for the first half of the first game, that’s what we looked like. We were all energy and not a lot of technique. After that, they regained their composure. I’m really proud of them for maintaining focus in the second game and pushing forward.”
There was no dramatic bounce-back from Neuqua in the second. Waubonsie maintained its momentum, got off to a hot start and never looked back. The lead moved from 6-1 to 11-3 to 16-5 before the Warriors really exploded a 7-0 run that pushed the lead to 23-7. The run was fueled by three Studnicka kills, two kills from Vandenburg and two aces from Jackie Pedersen.
“We thought that they were definitely going to come back a lot stronger than they did,” Studnicka said of Neuqua. “I think we shut them down pretty well. It was all we could ask for in a match.”
Waubonsie now has a week off before opening play at the Class 4A Oswego Regional as the No. 5 seed in the sectional. If the Warriors can get past Romeoville in the first round, a date with Naperville Central, a team Waubonsie has beaten twice already this season, could loom in the regional title match.
“I think we’re going to take some time to rest and come back in and work really hard for the tournament,” Studnicka said. “It boosts our confidence so much. We’re so ready now.”
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