WOODSTOCK – Even with a roster full of juniors and sophomores, Woodstock North volleyball coach Eric Schulze considers his players experienced enough – through high school and club matches – to deal with tight situations.

Marengo provided the Thunder with such a scenario Monday night in their Kishwaukee River Conference opener, and North met the challenge.

Facing one set point, North battled back to win on Avery Crabill’s ace, then took control in the second set for a 27-25, 25-16 victory.

“They’ve been in those situations a lot,” Schulze said. “I don’t think the situation overwhelmed them at all. We were really struggling to find a rhythm in that first set. We were getting a lot of attempts and we just weren’t terminating.

“We started terminating points a little bit better in the second set and probably not leaving as many opportunities out there for [Marengo].”

North (2-1, 1-0 KRC) built a 13-8 lead in the second set, like it had in the first, but this time the Indians (1-1, 0-1) could not recover.

“We talked more. We knew what we needed to do and understood our opponent more,” Thunder outside hitter Alyssa Wickersheim said. “We knew how to work against them and play smart.”

Wickersheim led North with 10 kills, two aces and five digs. Setter Kylie Schulze had 20 assists, three aces, five digs and two blocks.

“We started relying on each other more, relying on the team to score points,” Kylie Schulze said of the first-set rally. “We were able to fix our errors that got us to the point where we had to start fighting at the end, so we didn’t have to deal with that in the second set. We did that as a team in the second game.”

Hannah Blaksley added five kills, and Cadence Klasek had four kills and three blocks for the Thunder.

Marengo coach Rayne Hoey liked the way her team battled in the first set after falling behind early.

“Woodstock North has always been good competition,” Hoey said. “These girls are resilient. They fought through [COVID-19] and everything else. They know how to fight. That’s pretty much what they did. Even though it’s a loss, I told them it’s the best loss they can take.”

Lilly Johnson had 10 assists and seven digs for the Indians. Abby Rohe added five kills, and Alexis Kunde and Michaela Almeida had four kills each. Mia Lulinski had four blocks and Jenna Turner contributed with seven digs.