Lyons was hoping to force a third game and put the pressure on Naperville Central during Friday’s Hinsdale Central Sectional semifinal.
The Redhawks had different plans.
Naperville Central never really pulled away, but also never let Lyons go on any runs as the Redhawks moved on to Tuesday’s championship match against Glenbard West with a 25-22, 25-21 victory.
“It was back and forth quite a bit and we tried to close the game, but we couldn’t do enough to force that third game,” Lyons coach Joann Pyritz said. “We weren’t on our mark as usual and we’re usually a better blocking team, but credit their outside. They were able to avoid our blocks no matter where we put it.”
Jack Burton led the Redhawks (34-4) with 16 kills, while Jon Chiczewski was also a major force with 12 kills. Dan Trembacki paced the attack with 32 assists.
“I think we’ve found a good consistency now at this point of the season,” Redhawks coach Roger Strausberger said. “I think earlier in the year we were giving big runs of three or four points, but now, we’re limiting that to just one or two points now.”
Lyons (29-7) couldn’t sustain any lengthy runs so it was unable to overtake the Redhawks, despite never falling too far behind.
“We were just a step or two slow,” Pyritz said. “We’ve played better in the past, but Naperville Central forces you to play their way and they took us to task.”
Despite the teams having not met earlier in the season, they certainly knew what to expect from one another.
“We knew they had some amazing hitters and setters and would be a fantastic challenge for us,” Burton said. “It was definitely a hard match, but we got pumped up for it and tried to set the tone early.”
Strausberger echoed Burton’s sentiments.
“At this stage in the season, all the teams are going to be competitive,” he said. “It was just a matter of going off some film footage we had seen earlier and going out and fighting hard.”
