PLAINFIELD – The attacks from Plainfield North came from all different directions Tuesday night in a 25-12, 25-15 Southwest Prairie Conference win over Plainfield East in another edition of the Battle for 119th Street.

The multi-pronged attack was by design, and it helped that the Tigers (15-11, 5-3) had Northern Illinois University-bound setter Ella Strausberger to direct traffic.

Strausberger kept the Bengals (2-22, 1-7) guessing all night, as the kills for North were spread out. Riley Cunningham led the way with seven kills, while Ella Maletich had six and Lizzie Fitzgerald had five. Sydney Pavlik added three kills and Isabelle Davis and Jade Wortman each had two.

“This was a fun match,” Strausberger said. “It’s always fun to play Plainfield East. They are our 119th Street rivals.

“We really spread things out tonight, and that’s what we want to do. It’s nice for me to know that I have good hitters on either side of me that can put the ball down. I just look to see who has the best matchup and try to get it to them.”

She had no trouble finding Cunningham and Fitzgerald early, as both had two kills to help the Tigers build a 5-3 lead. Then, it was a kill by Isabelle Davis, two by Maletich and one each by Wortman and Strausberger that moved the North advantage to 13-6. East stayed within shouting distance at 17-11 before Fitzgerald went on a 5-point serving run that included an ace, two kills by Cunningham and a kill by Davis.

“Ella really spread the offense out well,” North coach Matt Slechta said. “That was the one goal this year was to get all five of the hitters involved. In the past, we’ve had a big hitter, like Lauren Jansen last year, that we could set a lot. We don’t have that one big hitter, but we have five that are very effective, and Ella does a good job of putting the ball in the right places for them.

“Also, our passers did a good job. That’s a huge component in our offense. In order for Ella to make good sets, she has to have good passes to her, and she got that tonight.”

North jumped to a 5-2 lead in the second set before East came back to cut it to 6-5, 7-6 and 8-7. The Bengals were within 14-11 before a 7-0 North run made it 21-11 and the Tigers cruised to the win.

Rhiannon McKay led East with four kills, while Gabriella Schmidt had two.

“Our girls came out and played hard,” East coach Kurt Dolson said. “We have played a tough schedule this year, but these girls come to compete every match.

“We have spurts where we show good signs, but then we give up a long string of points and we are down. Earlier in the season, that would happen right away and we would be in a big hole at the start. Lately, we’re going further into the matches and keeping it closer. I have to remind them that being down three or four points isn’t the end of the world.

“I was happy with Gabriella Schmidt tonight. She is only a sophomore and she got in there and swung well. She didn’t get the ball a lot, but it was good to see her swinging hard when she did get it. She learns fast and has a bright future.”