Naperville North continues momentum

LOCKPORT – Naperville North’s girls volleyball team has picked the right time of the season to peak.

The Huskies’ dominating 25-9, 25-11 win over Bolingbrook in the Class 4A Lockport Regional semifinals gives North wins in 11 of its past 12 matches.

The Huskies look to roll that momentum into Thursday’s 6 p.m. regional title match against the host Porters. Lockport knocked off Oswego East in Tuesday’s other semifinal.

“I think we came in with a positive attitude,” said North senior Sami Scroggins, who led both teams with 11 kills in the win. “We didn’t worry about what they were doing on their side of the net. We just worried about us.”

Second-seeded North (29-7 overall) wasted little time getting things going. Freshman Emily Kwak served up an ace on the first serve of the match, and the Huskies never looked back. They jumped out to a 5-0 lead and never trailed in the entire match.

Kwak had an 11-point serving run in Game 2, as well. All told, the freshman posted 22 assists to her teammates and served up four aces in the win.

“Emily had some long point runs for us,” North coach Jennifer Urban said. “She has a really strong serve and we want to keep her behind the line as long as possible.”

Bolingbrook, the No. 15 seed, never threatened in the first game as North won going away. Two aces from Ellie Ivancich and a kill from Corinne Gajcak ended the first game, 25-9.

The Raiders hung around early in Game 2, trailing only 6-5, before the Huskies exploded again. The lead suddenly swelled to 22-7 behind Kwak’s serve and a run of kills from Scroggins.

As part of North’s dominant run here at the end of the season, the Huskies captured a share of the DuPage Valley Conference title and won the Lake Park Invitational with an impressive win over Hersey in the championship match Saturday.

Now, the attention switches to seventh-seeded Lockport. There is more on the line for the Porters than just a regional championship in their home gym, however. Legendary coach Julia Hudson is retiring after 33 seasons heading the program, so the Porters will be playing for more than just a regional plaque.

“We just have to focus on playing volleyball,” Urban said. “There are a lot of outside factors, but we need to come in here and execute on our side. We’re confident coming in that the girls will be focused and ready to play.”

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