Hinsdale Central stuns St Ignatius in thriller

Updated: October 27, 2011 9:31PM

Hinsdale Central rallied from match point and trailed by seven points in the third set to beat St. Ignatius Thursday night.

St. Ignatius had a few opportunities to eliminate Hinsdale Central Thursday night, but the Devils never relented behind Ally Davis and Dominique Millette.

The Michigan-bound Davis had 16 kills, four aces and two blocks and Millette, a sophomore middle hitter, had a career night with 11 kills and three blocks as fifth-seeded Hinsdale Central rallied from match point in the second set and then rallied from a seven-point deficit in the third set to beat the host and fourth-seeded Wolfpack 24-26, 28-26, 25-23 in the Class 4A St. Ignatius Regional final.

The Devils (20-17) won their third consecutive regional title and sixth overall, but will face West Suburban Silver rival Lyons at 6 p.m. Nov. 1 in the Young Sectional semifinal. Hinsdale Central ruined the defending state champion’s chances to repeat as conference champions with a 26-24, 19-25, 25-21 victory Oct. 11 on Lyons’ Senior Night. Lyons won the Proviso West Regional final with a 25-11, 25-12 win over Fenwick.

There were moments when it appeared the Devils would not get a chance to advance to the sectional after St. Ignatius (29-8) led 24-23 in the second set on a hitting error by Davis. Hinsdale scored two consecutive points on a Davis kill and Wolfpack call into the net. The teams were tied at 26 when the Devils sent the match into a third set on a service error and then Sanne Hilbrich’s clinching kill off a backslide.

Hilbrich, the Devils’ starting middle hitter for much of the season, did not start against St. Ignatius and came off the bench in the second set to finish with four kills in the match. Devils coach Sheralynn Kellough said Millette and Lucy Crofton were playing better ahead of Hilbrich recently.

“I always tell [Hilbrich] to be ready,” Kellough said. “I’m glad to see her ready and step up as a senior at that point.”

St. Ignatius led 17-10 in the third set when the Devils went on a 9-1 run. The Wolfpack scored two more points to lead 20-19, but then Hinsdale scored four more points in a row. Emily Grasso (three kills) gave Hinsdale match point with a kill and then Katie Grabowski (seven kills) ended the match with a kill assisted by libero Rachael Lenderman’s desperation pass to Grabowski as she was headed into the stands for a loose ball.

“Everyone on the bench played great,” said Davis, who missed the last six matches in the regular season due to a knee injury. “Everyone played great volleyball. It was what we needed. We didn’t need a superhero. We didn’t need two people to save us.”

The Wolfpack were led by Camille Evans, who had a match-high 17 kills. Junior setter Sophia Robb, a Hinsdale resident committed to Wake Forest, had 18 assists, seven kills and two blocks.

“I went to grade school and played club [against Central’s team],” Robb said. “It was a really good match. We went point for point until the end, but we couldn’t close it out. Overall, we played well. I thought it was a well played volleyball match.”

Five of Millette’s kills came off backslides from setter Ellie Van Keirsbilck (34 assists) as the maneuver was more effective for Millette up front.

“It was working, so we kept it going. We didn’t want our season to end,” Millette said. “I know we can go really far.”

The Wolfpack had won nine of their last 10 matches entering the regional final.

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