Naperville North cruises past Yorkville

The goals are simple for Naperville North’s girls volleyball team this week at the Class 4A Yorkville Regional.   The second-seeded Huskies will not be satisfied with anything but a regional title, and their 25-13, 25-17 win over the host Foxes in Tuesday’s semifinal showed that they mean business.   North dominated from the outset and cruised to the win to improve to a sturdy 32-4 on the season. The Huskies will face 10th-seeded Plainfield Central, a 26-24, 25-18 upset winner over seventh-seeded Neuqua Valley in Tuesday’s other semifinal. The finals are Thursday at 6 p.m. It will be the first meeting between the teams this season.   “We know that we’re going to get everyone’s best match, so we know we have to be ready to go from that first serve and try to find a rhythm,” North coach Jen Urban said. “I think we played well. We played some good defense.”   The Huskies were able to get star senior right side Emily Mankowski going early and often to set the tone. Four of her match-high 14 kills came as the Huskies built a 12-4 lead in the first game to take control. Her ace scored the final point of the 25-13 Game 1 win.   “She typically leads our team in kills,” Urban said. “We know that Emily is going to get the most attempts every match, and when she’s not scoring in the front row, she has the opportunity to swing in the back row for us.”   Yorkville (22-10) showed some life in the second, but North was too much for the Foxes.   “We talked about it after the match today; their level is where we want to be,” Yorkville coach Mike Dunn said. “They are a state-championship level program. That’s what we’re trying to do.”   They tied a 2011 school record for wins in their second season in Class 4A. The 14th seed won its first-ever Class 4A postseason match in Monday’s 25-10, 25-8 quarterfinal win over West Aurora. Sophomore Jordan Albarran led the Foxes with three kills and a block.   Emily Bushman had 11 digs and four aces for North. Megan Wernette put down eight kills, Angela Jurek had six kills and setter Emily Kwak had 28 assists and six digs.