Waubonsie Valley spikes South Elgin, grabs momentum

The Waubonsie Valley girls volleyball team picked a good time to get its rhythm back.

On senior night in their last home match of the season, the Warriors broke a three-match losing streak and gained some momentum going into next week’s playoffs by defeating visiting South Elgin 25-21, 25-11.

“We really seemed to get back in our rhythm,” said Waubonsie coach Kristen Stuart. “Especially in that second set. It’s always great to play well on senior night. We’re confident in everyone on our team and knew we could count on all our seniors to play well.”

The Storm (20-12) stayed with the Warriors (27-7) early in the first set, and then Waubonsie took the lead for good at 10-9.

But, the hosts never got quite comfortable as South Elgin lingered a few points behind the rest of the way.

“South Elgin played well in the first set,” said Waubonsie Valley’s Rachel Minarick, who led the Warriors with nine kills, and also had 12 assists and three blocks. “But then in the second set we changed our attitude, got more aggressive, started communicating better and we didn’t let them play with us.”

In the second set, the Warriors built a 16-10 lead and then went on a seven-point run with Katie Campbell at the service line to virtually put the match away.

“We really started trucking in that second game,” said Minarick. “We have been getting better and better all season and improving on the things we need to improve on. This win makes us confident going into the postseason.”

Becky Breuer had five kills for the Warriors, while Angela Lee had eight blocks and Brooke Burling added four kills and five digs. Stephanie Tang was the dig-leader with 14.

Renee Rush led the Storm with five kills and Ashley Oandasan led in digs with eight.

“Waubonsie Valley did a great job with their serves keeping us out of our offense,” said South Elgin coach Adam Plach. “They didn’t allow us to get good swings. Our communication wasn’t good. We didn’t identify their hitters and we left girls unblocked. I liked the way we looked in some rallies because we’ve struggled finishing all year. Minarick is the best player I’ve seen all season.