Strong in pool play, West finishes fourth

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AURORA -- After a solid morning of action in their own West Aurora Volleyball Tournament, the host Blackhawks ran out of gas in the afternoon's championship round.

Still, West displayed enough talent to make a strong case for significant improvement over last year's 4-31 record. The Blackhawks settled for fourth place in the eight-team tournament, won by Sycamore over Mt. Assisi, with Plainfield South taking third. Other teams were Bartlett, South Elgin, Minooka, and Streamwood.

"We played hard all morning, and I'm proud of our overall effort," said West Aurora coach Kari Nicholson.

Coming out flat after winning opening games was a prevailing trend in four of the five matches for the Blackhawks. In their opening match of pool play against Minooka, West won a tight 26-24 battle, then were aced five times in an 8-0 Indian run to start the second game. Minooka went on to win that game 25-13 and earn a split of the two-game match.

"We need to work on coming back after a win, and also what to do when we get down," said Nicholson.

The same thing happened in the next match against Streamwood. After winning 25-20, West Aurora found itself down 6-0.

This time, the Blackhawks responded with power. Middle hitter Jessica Patterson, Whitney Holbrook, and libero Jenna Stutz all had multiple kills as West went on an 18-5 run to turn the game around. Devin Vaughn closed out the game with a pair of hits off blocks for West Aurora.

In the final match of pool play, West Aurora faced a Plainfield South team that had won its first two matches. The Blackhawks played perhaps their best match of the day to turn back the Cougars 25-16, 27-26.

Stutz saved her team after South had turned a 23-20 deficit into a 24-23 lead in the second game. Her diving dig not only kept the point alive, but deposited the ball into an open spot near the Cougar baseline to tie the score and pave the way for West to go 2-0-1 in pool play.

The Blackhawks started off slowly again in the championship semifinals against Mt. Assisi, digging a 5-0 hole. But they were still within 16-14 after a pair of aces by Brittany Clarke, before the Eagles finished with a 9-1 surge to prevail 25-15, then 25-16 in the second game.

Patterson had her best scoring game in the consolation match against Plainfield South, which defeated West 25-15, 10-25, 15-11. Patterson registered three points in the first game and five in the second before a tired but game effort by both teams in the finale.

"Our timing today in setting up our offense was significantly better than our first match," said Nicholson, whose team is now 2-3-1 on the young season. "The girls are working hard at being competitive. I feel we can sneak up on some teams this season."

West Aurora Volleyball Tournament