It’s not easy for a volleyball team to win the first set, lose the second and come back to win the third. Add to that the fact that Tuesday’s match against Lincoln-Way Central was a regional semifinal on the Knights’ home floor, and things didn’t look good for Plainfield North at the Class 4A Lincoln-Way Central Regional.

The Tigers, though, were able to overcome that and used the strong serving of Rylee Richards down the stretch to come away with a 25-21, 19-25, 25-19 win over the Knights and advance to Thursday’s regional championship game against Lockport, which beat Romeoville 25-15, 25-17 in the night’s first semifinal.

The third set between Plainfield North (15-15) and Lincoln-Way Central (23-10) was back-and-forth. The Tigers grabbed a quick 5-2 lead, but Central rallied and tied it at 7. There were then ties at 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17 before Central went ahead 19-17 on kills by Mya Donnelly and Ella Thompson. North got the serve back on a kill by Gia Burton, sending Richards to the service line.

She never left.

Burton delivered an ace to tie the score at 19, then had another to put her team ahead 20-19. After kills by Kayla Overbeek and Burton put the Tigers ahead 22-19, Richards again served back-to-back aces before Izzy Davis ended the match with a kill.

“I wasn’t really nervous going back to serve,” Richards said. “I just took some deep breaths and relaxed. Once we got the lead, it was a lot easier to relax. In the third set, we just really focused on our own things. We read their setter better and tried to focus on doing everything else right.

“We have been up and down this year, but we are playing well at the right time. All of us work well together on the court, and we feed off of each other whenever someone does something good. I’m excited to play for a regional championship. We haven’t played for one in a few years, so it’s fun to be back doing that.”

The Tigers, who will play in their first regional title match since 2021, got a team-high 12 kills from Lindsey Balsano, while Overbeek had 11 and Burton had eight. Richards finished with eight aces.

In the first set, Lincoln-Way Central got out to a 5-2 lead, but North tied it at 5 and took a 6-5 lead on an ace by Sophie Stahl. The Tigers held an 11-10 lead after a kill by Overbeek, but Central got back-to-back kills from Ella Thompson, who led all players with 15, to move ahead 12-11. North, though, took control with Richards serving. After a kill by Davis, Richards served back-to-back aces, then got a kill from Overbeek to put North ahead 16-12. They never trailed again and Overbeek got the set’s final point with a kill.

Plainfield North led 9-8 in the second set before Thompson got the serve back with a kill, then Madelyn Jablonski went on a four-point serving run behind a kill by Penny Smith and a kill and a block by Thompson. North rallied to get to within 14-13 on an ace by Burton, but Central closed the set on an 11-6 run, with Thompson providing three kills, to set up the final set.

“You can’t count us out,” Plainfield North coach Matthew Slechta said. “Last year, we went into Lincoln-Way West as a lower seed, and we took Lincoln-Way West to three sets. This year, we were the lower seed on Lincoln-Way Central’s court and we got the win.

“We have figured out what works for us on the court. In the postseason, everyone’s record starts over at 0-0. Give a lot of credit to our kids for being prepared to play tonight. Rylee Richards did a great job serving, and we spread our offense around. When Lincoln-Way won the second set, we just refocused on what we do well. It’s been since 2021 that we played for a regional title, so it’s nice to be playing for something Thursday.”

In the opening match, Lockport (29-7) dominated early, jumping out to a 10-2 lead in the first set behind three kills and two aces by Bridget Ferriter. Romeoville (8-28) rallied to get within 14-12, but Lockport closed with an 11-3 run. The second set was much tighter, as Romeoville got out to a 4-1 lead, and the score was tied at 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 before Lockport took control with an 8-1 run that was capped by three straight aces by Natalie Bochantin.

The Porters were led by nine kills each by Ferriter and Hutsyn Timosciek, 12 assists by Malley Green and seven digs and four aces by Emma Consigny. Romeoville got four kills from Arianna Thomas and three by freshman Talynn Miloch.

“We had a stretch in the first set and one in the second where we were a little sloppy,” Lockport coach Nick Mraz said. “Other than that, we played very well. We kept the pressure on, but Romeoville played good defense.

“It was nice to get the butterflies out. No matter the records or seeds of the teams, the playoffs are different. Having two players like Bridget and Hutsyn really gives a lot of flexibility. They give us good options even when we get out of system.”