Copyright Shaw Local Enewspapers
Volleyball is a game all about momentum. And in both of Tuesday’s Class 3A girls volleyball sectional semifinals matchups, the winning team proved it in a different way. On one side, second-seeded Geneva never trailed outside of the second point to defeat third-seeded Hinsdale South 25-18, 25-21. On the other, fourth-seeded Nazareth rallied back from a seven-point deficit in the first set and carried the momentum into the second set to take a 26-24, 25-17 victory over top-seeded Timothy Christian. In the first game of the night, the Roadrunners (18-18) found themselves trailing 16-9 midway through the first set, allowing a scoring streak of both six points and seven points in the set. But after first-year coach Esai Velez took his second timeout of the set to try and rally them back, he wanted to make one message very clear. Have fun. “I mean the whole team was just a little bit nervous,” Velez said. “They found a little bit of the fun there and they enjoy playing the game, that’s why they’re here. And when they enjoy the game, they play well.” That bit of fun catapulted the Roadrunners, who went on a 17-8 run to end the set to steal the set away from the Trojans (29-6). “Most of the time when a team hits the 16-point mark, it feels like we can’t comeback from it,” freshman Elizabeth Mackenzie said. “We didn’t think that at all. We wanted to get back and win the set, and that feeling of positivity and frustration from earlier really helped us crawl back.” Nazareth didn’t stop there, however. With Mackenzie (three kills and three blocks) behind the service line, the freshman rattled off eight straight points, three of them off of aces, to push an early 9-1 advantage in the second set, one it would never falter. “The environment on the court was just so amazing,” Mackenzie said. “Everyone was just so uplifted and ready to go after that first set and coming in as an underdog, so to go up by that much was just a great feeling.” Senior Beth Suroweic and junior Talia Surenden each led the way at the net with five kills for the Roadrunners, who will play for a sectional title a year removed from going 3-31. “It’s a new culture and a new program, but the kids are leading everything,” Velez said. “I just show up to help them elaborate a way of winning. We have a lot of seniors, and they’re doing a great job of leading the way.” In the game that followed, Geneva (21-16) established the pace early from beyond the service line. The Vikings had five of their seven aces on the night come in the first set, building a lead up to nine points that they would not falter. “We practice every day to serve tough in a game situation,” said Vikings assistant coach Kristi Hasty, who’s subbed in as the head coach while Lauren Kosecki is on maternity leave. “That’s kind of our bread and butter back at the service line.” Sophomore Zori Malone led the Vikings behind the service line, finishing with three aces. “Getting those aces slowed them down quite a bit, which gave us a bunch more momentum,” Malone said. “We tried to use that quite often to keep us going better.” Malone also tied with sophomore Emma Peterson for the most kills on the team, with each getting eight apiece. The Vikings, who only returned one player from the team that lost in a Class 4A regional final last season, will now play in their first sectional title game since 2016. “We played so well together, and when the energy went up it just bought up the whole team,” Malone said. “Knowing that this hasn’t happened in so long, and we’re the team to try and break the streak, it’s an amazing feeling. Despite the loss, Hinsdale South (18-18) coach Ben Goodell said their was plenty of good to come out of the night for his team, which was making its first appearance in a sectional semifinal since 2012. “If you were to tell me back in August or even last year that we would be playing in a sectional semifinal game, I’d think that’s quite significant,” Goodell said. “It just speaks testaments to how we’re trying to move the program up as a whole, and this is a significant step forward for us.” A lot of that fight came from senior Kotryna Melstrad, who finished her high school career with a game-high 14 kills in the contest. “We’ve asked a lot from her over her four years and she’s continuously delivered,” Goodell said. “From the front row to the service line, she’s fantastic. She’s a very well-rounded player.”
