Bigger service run lifts Serena over Somonauk

SOMONAUK – It’s amazing how quickly a volleyball match can turn from dream to nightmare for one team and from nightmare to dream for the other. Just ask Serena and Somonauk’s coaches.

The Bobcats were on Cloud 9 from the very start, getting a sideout error and then 10 consecutive service points from Sydney Johnson to take what seemed a commanding lead in the opening set of their Little Ten Conference Tournament match Tuesday night.

But that lead didn’t last long.

After a sideout kill by sophomore Paige Sexton, Katie Baker stepped to the line and out-did Johnson by serving for 19 points in a row, putting the visitors in control of that set and ultimately the match in a 25-15, 25-14 decision over the Bobcats.

The turnaround by the No. 5 Huskers sends them to a 6 p.m. Thursday clash with No. 1 seed, two-time defending Class 1A champion Newark. The Norsemen topped No. 8 seeded Hinckley-Big Rock on Tuesday.

No. 4 seeded Somonauk, which started out well, falls to 5-8 this season.

Huskers coach Katy Severson was taken aback by her club’s uncharacteristic beginning but knew her club would eventually come around.

“I have to believe that if we can spot a team a 10-0 lead and come back and win in two, I have to believe anything is possible.”

—  Serena volleyball coach Katy Severson

“Oh, my gosh, yes, I was nervous,” Severson said. “But I was always hopeful. The problem during that 10-0 run was our passing. We weren’t able to run anything because we weren’t getting the passes, but Paige got us a great kill and Katie really came on and just took over. Focus is what did it, focus on what we were doing and making one play at a time.

“Now we get Newark again. We had them in our first match of the season and it was competitive, 25-19 in both games, and I believe we can be that competitive again. I have to believe that if we can spot a team a 10-0 lead and come back and win in two, I have to believe anything is possible.”

The Somonauk faithful had to be pinching themselves when the Bobcats broke out the way they did, with Johnson registering two aces, kills from Karlee McBride and Gabrie Gozder and passing and hitting errors by the Huskers.

But all it took was a set by Baker and a kill by Sexton and all those early foibles were forgotten. Two net violations by the Bobcats and Baker’s only ace of the run quickly ran the score to 10-8 Somonauk, forcing a timeout. A shoot by Sexton and a passing error tied it at 10, and over the next nine points Sexton had four of her match-best 12 kills, with three of the last four points coming that way for a 19-10 Huskers lead.

Only three more times the rest of the night did Somonauk string together back-to-back points.

In the second set, a Sexton kill for sideout broke a 1-all tie and brought Baker back to serve. This time, she reeled off five straight for a 7-1 edge. Then it was two points for Sexton, three for Reese Cole and suddenly it was 14-3.

Baker finished with 24 points and four aces to back Sexton’s 12 kills and five points. For Serena, Johnson finished with seven aces, nine assists and nine digs. Katelynn Tripp added four kills and seven digs, Karlee McBride six kills and two blocks and Aubrey Westbrook 13 digs.

“We started strong, but we just lost all our energy,” Somonauk coach Aleesha Carlson said. “I thought defensively we played pretty strong still, but things snowballed on us and we couldn’t come back. We were hoping for the win which would guaranteed us two more games, so it’s disappointing that this is it for our three seniors. I’m just really proud of the way the girls kept fighting and never quit.”