PLAINFIELD – As wildly successful as this Oswego volleyball season has been, it’s easy to forget about one pertinent detail.

This is a very young team.

Oswego’s top three pin hitters are juniors. So are the Panthers’ setter and their libero. That relative youth, and the weight of a high postseason seed, can make for a tricky first regional match, which Oswego experienced Tuesday.

“Last year we lost in the first round, so we were definitely very nervous – especially because we know we’re better than that team,” Oswego junior outside hitter and Long Beach State recruit Sidney Hamaker said. “We were playing very tense tonight, making mistakes in the first set, but we pulled it together.”

Indeed they did, and as usual Hamaker had a big hand in it. Her kill at set point turned away a huge challenge from 13th-seeded Yorkville in the first set, and third-seeded Oswego cruised from there to a 26-24, 25-12 win in Tuesday’s Class 4A Plainfield North Regional semifinal.

Hamaker had 11 kills, Mia Jurkovic nine kills, Ava Flanigan 23 assists, Alexis Terrazas eight digs and Kelsey Foster three kills and six digs for Oswego (28-6), which added to the team’s program record win total and advanced to face Plainfield North in Thursday’s regional final.

Joelle Pye-Blacknard had nine kills and five digs, and Charlee Young five kills for Yorkville (13-23).

Oswego scored the first three points of the match and led 11-6 in the first set, but could not pull away from a Yorkville team it had beaten convincingly during the conference season.

A tip kill by Pye-Blacknard over an Oswego block tied it at 23-23, and Pye-Blacknard’s kill turned away Oswego’s first chance at set point. Pye-Blacknard, a freshman, earlier had four kills and an ace that clipped the net and went over for five of Yorkville’s first six points.

“Joelle didn’t play like a freshman. Our seniors led, and that’s what we needed to be successful,” Yorkville coach Ryan Donato said. “This whole week we were talking about how nobody had faith in us and Oswego has set all these records for this season. We really didn’t have any pressure. We could go out there and play loose.”

Oswego finally took the first set with Foster’s kill from the back row and Hamaker’s hammer shot. From there the Panthers scored the first five points of the second, overcoming some early anxious moments.

“Postseason nerves, that’s what it felt like to me,” Oswego coach Gary Mosley said. “We were moving really, really slow, our tempo is what is important, and we can’t go falling in that trap. I think we were caught in the environment a little bit. I think we saw that fix itself at the end of the first set, carried that momentum over to the second set where you could see we were on the gas pedal right away.”

Jurkovic followed up Hamaker’s big finish to the first set with kills on four of Oswego’s six points of the second. Hamaker later brought the power again, whistling a kill that glanced off a Yorkville defender’s head for a 10-3 lead.

“Mia got us going. Mia is all about placement over power. She put the ball in some good spots,” Mosley said. “Sidney is the hammer. She started to throttle down, started to get over and through the block. You’ve got to remember there are a lot of juniors on the court. For us, this is a big moment for them, we haven’t had that pressure.

“I thought they responded well.”

And now the Panthers have a second shot at hardware.

A loss to Joliet West last Thursday denied Oswego its chance for a first-ever conference championship. A win over Plainfield North, who the Panthers defeated in two sets two weeks ago, would give them the program’s fourth regional title and first since 2011.

“We kind of had to move fast after that Joliet West loss – it was literally last Thursday, and losing that was tough,” Hamaker said. “But when you think about it, I would much rather have a regional plaque than a conference plaque. It means more.

“We have to clean up our service errors, and our passing definitely could have been better. I know our passing was bad. Our setter was sick and didn’t play her best. But we’ll be OK.”