Reliable is good. Predictable is not.
For a volleyball setter, there’s a world of difference between the two.
Melissa Walden and Jessica Molina knew what needed to be done to get Waubonsie Valley’s 6-2 offense clicking again in the second game Thursday night.
Walden and Molina got it done as the host Warriors took a nip-and-tuck 25-22, 25-23 victory over West Aurora in the Class 4A Waubonsie Valley Regional championship game.
“Once you move the ball around a lot more, you become a lot more unpredictable,” said Walden, a senior setter who’s committed to Texas A&M. “We were getting very predictable, especially at the start of the second (game).
“I think that’s why we struggled a lot more because they knew where we were going. They could set up a block and we weren’t there to cover.”
Waubonsie Valley (27-10) was in danger of being pushed to a decisive third game, trailing 19-15 and then 23-20 before rallying late to win behind 13 assists from Walden and seven from Molina.
Junior Chloey Myers, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter who finished with a match-high 11 kills and three of her team’s seven service aces, was pivotal in helping West Aurora (25-10) keep the match close.
Molina, a junior setter, pinpointed the problem.
“It really depends on the pass, and that’s a big part of why we couldn’t set our middle,” Molina said. “When communication falls apart for serve receive, we struggle. As soon as we got that back up, we came together.”
Receiving a good pass is crucial for a setter to succeed.
“We struggled with our passing,” Waubonsie coach Kari Galen said. “I think serve receive is very much a mental game. It’s tough, because without it, you really can’t do much. That’s all I said in the timeouts, ‘We need to get a pass.'”
The passing came around and the Warriors came back, sparked by middle hitters Rianna DeMyers and Aryanna Ruffin. DeMyers had five blocks, the final one forcing a 23-23 tie in the second game.
“Big blocks like that are real momentum shifts,” Walden said. “It brings a lot of energy to a team.”
Ruffin, who had a pair of blocks, matched Walden’s four kills to complement team leader Gabi Croll’s seven kills.
“As soon as we started running the middles, it changed the entire dynamic of the game,” Galen said
“It creates more options for our pin (hitters), too,” Walden said.
The Warriors advanced to a 6:30 p.m. Monday semifinal at the Bolingbrook Sectional against Plainfield North (31-6).
A pick-me-up: Senior outside Grace Franz was weakened by the flu for three days leading up to third-seeded Kaneland’s 26-24, 25-22 upset of second-seeded Prairie Ridge for the 3A Wauconda Regional title.
“All these young kids heard was that it was a rebuilding year after we lost eight seniors,” Knights coach Cynthia Violett said. “They’re starting to play to win and they’re getting confidence in themselves.”
Cruise control: Defending 1A state champ Newark rolled 25-7, 25-15 over Schaumburg Christian for the Somonauk Regional title. The win was the 499th of coach Tonya Grayson’s career.
She goes for No. 500 at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Des Plaines against Morgan Park Academy in the Willows Academy Sectional.
No charm this time: Second-seeded Geneva (23-13), a 4A regional host, dropped a 25-22, 25-23 decision to sixth-seeded St. Charles North, a team the Vikings had beaten twice in the regular season.
“They came ready to play with high energy,” Geneva coach Annie Seitelman said of the North Stars. “They did a nice job of taking us out of system. We dug ourselves an early hole in the first game, but we fought hard.”
