Tulacka leads Downers North

Updated: August 30, 2011 9:35PM

No one could blame Jessie Tulacka if she dropped everything to find a bucket of ice in which to bury her right arm after Downers North’s match Tuesday with visiting Naperville Central.

“Yeah, it’s a little sore,” she said. “But it feels awesome to win. We stepped it up a lot, worked hard and we got it.”

Tulacka, a 6-foot-1 outside hitter, had 20 kills, three blocks and an assist as Downers North (1–1) rallied from a 22-15 deficit in Game 3 to defeat Naperville Central 19-25, 25-21, 28-26.

“I knew we could do it,” Tulacka said. “I don’t know. I’ve seen it happen before and I believe in my team. I knew if we put our minds to it and play with heart, we could do it.”

The Trojans relied almost exclusively on the talented Tulacka with 5-11 senior Taylor Kasal on the sidelines with an ankle injury suffered two weeks ago.

“We realized that we had to all step it up,” Tulacka said. “Yesterday (a loss at Marian Catholic) we played like we weren’t clicking. We realized what we needed to do today. Maybe it was just being in our home gym or what. I don’t know. It just felt right.”

Naperville Central (0-1) broke a 10-10 tie in Game 3 with a 8-3 run capped by a block by Alysia Baznik. The Redhawks extended the lead to 22-15, but their seventh service error of the game and 14th of the match gave Downers North new life.

“I think it was nerves of the first match,” Naperville Central coach Brie Isaacson said. “It’s playing against somebody in a different colored shirt than you. No matter how hard you try to practice, you can’t simulate pressure at the end of a match.”

Back-to-back aces by Carolyn Nojiri brought the hosts within 23-22, and a block by Karissa Brazdys denied Naperville Central the match and tied the game at 24-24.

A kill by Sammy Condon earned another match point for the visitors, but a Brazdys block, a Central error and a kill by 6-1 sophomore Katherine Mahlke gave North the win.

Katie Canning had 26 assists and Mahlke added five kills and a block for Downers Grove North (1-1). Naperville Central got 10 kills and 13 assists from Baznik, eight kills from Kendall Ward and 15 assists from Abbi Williamson.

“All I can say is this the weaknesses we’ve been seeing in practice didn’t show tonight. and the strengths we’ve had became weaknesses,” Isaacson said. “Serving and defense are what we do everyday. But we defended poorly and we served terrible.

“We attacked well, we blocked exceptional,” she added. “Those have not been strengths for us in practice. It’s time to go back to the drawing board.”

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