Waubonsie Volleyball Knocks Off Top Seed At Wheaton Classic

WHEATON – Waubonsie Valley's girls volleyball team knocked off the top seed in the prestigious 24-team Wheaton Classic Saturday, but it came a tad too late for the Warriors to contend for the championship.

The Warriors topped Hinsdale Central, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22, in the seventh-place match of the three-day tourney. That came after losses to Benet and Lemont earlier in the day pushed Waubonsie (7-6) into the consolation bracket of the Gold Flight.

"They know a lot of those kids from club, so they're pretty confident against them," Waubonsie coach Kristen Stuart said of Hinsdale Central. "We were happy to get to play them. They're in our sectional. We hadn't gotten to see them yet this year. It was a good match-up for us. I wanted them to take it in two, but it's a good win for our program."

Neuqua Valley had an eventful run to 11th place in the tournament due to a pair of respiratory incidents. Friday against Rosary, outside hitter Kaitlynn Novak, who had no history of any respiratory problems, suddenly had an attack. She played through the match, but the Wildcats lost for the first time all season, sending them to the Silver Flight.

Then on Saturday against Sandburg in the Silver semifinals, setter Stacy Cesario, who has asthma, had an attack early in Game 2 and was unable to play the rest of the day, switching up the plan of attack for the Wildcats.

Neuqua (11-2) did finish strong with a 25-17, 25-15 win over Plainfield North.

"She was out the rest of the day," Neuqua coach Kelly Simon said of Cesario, who was replaced by Christine Cichon. "We switched to a 5-1, which we haven't done, which took one of my big blockers out of the front row. I think that helped the girls turn it around and step it up."

Neuqua started the day with a 25-20, 24-26, 25-16 win over Naperville Central, which sent the Redhawks (7-8) into the consolation bracket in the Silver Flight. Central then lost in two sets to Wheaton North.

But the Redhawks were able to recover to top Downers Grove South, 25-14, 25-22, to take home 15th place overall.

"It helps us learn a lot," Central senior Katie Battle said of the stiff competition at the tournament. "It helps us learn about ourselves and what we need to do to fix our errors."

Naperville North was relegated to the Bronze Flight after losing both of its matches Friday night. The Huskies (8-7) went 2-1 Saturday, taking 19th place overall. All three of their Saturday matches went three sets.

Benet wound up taking third in the tournament, which was where the Redwings were seeded coming into the fray. Benet lost to eventual champion Marist in a hotly contested match, 25-22, 25-23, in the semifinals. The Redwings recovered to handle Glenbrook South, 25-13, 25-20, in the third-place match.

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