Metea Valley storms past Oswego in own regional

Two years ago when Metea Valley was a sixth seed and favored to reach the regional championship, the Mustangs were soundly beaten in the semifinals by Plainfield Central. Kaylyn Torain made sure history would not repeat itself. Torain, a 5-foot-9 senior middle hitter, had seven kills and two blocks, Nina Tuszynski added nine kills and Ellie Petersen had 20 assists, two kills and an ace as sixth-seeded Metea Valley defeated No. 11 Oswego 25-18, 25-16 to advance to the championship of the Class 4A regional hosted by the Mustangs. Metea Valley (20-9) will face No. 3 seed Plainfield North at 6:00 p.m. Thursday. Metea Valley trailed 7-4 early in Game One, but three kills by Lexie Lobdell and two by sophomore Ashley Walker were part of a 14-6 run that gave the hosts an 18-12 lead. “Oh, my gosh, that was so much fun,” Torain said. “It was insane at times. I had to calm myself down and do some deep breathing. We were a little shaky the beginning of the first game. It was a little tough. But once we got on a run, it was like ‘OK, we got this. “They were very scrappy,” she added. “Since we played them before they knew what we were doing. It was one of those things where we had a play smart and find the holes. Once we did, once we found the holes, the ball would be down. So it was good.” Metea Valley experienced little anxiety in Game Two, building leads of 10-3 and 19-10. A kill by Torain extended the advantage to 20-11 and a dump by Petersen brought the partisan Metea Valley crowd onto the floor. “I had to remind the girls that they’re (Oswego) going to be good,” Metea Valley coach Dave Macdonald said. “They’re going to be better. They’re going to come out here ready to fight. They want to beat you on your home court. “They came out quick at the beginning,” he added. “I think there were some nerves playing at home and being the favorite to play in a regional championship match on Thursday. There were some nerves. But then they settled down and were able to play some good volleyball.” Lyndsie Anders had seven kills, Amara Richardson had three kills and Katelyn Burke added 11 assists for Oswego (19-16).