It’s a regional semi-final matchup between the No. 11-seeded Neuqua Valley Wildcats and the No. 7-seeded Lincoln Way Central Knights. The last time these two teams met was back on Oct. 6, 2018, when the Knights won in straight sets in the regular season. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Lincoln Way Central finished the 2023 regular season with an 11-3 record at home and hope the home-court advantage continues. As for Neuqua Valley, they were 8-5 on the road this season.
A back-and-forth first set
Lincoln Way Central gets the night started with a block on Lauren Mariscal’s outside hit, but just a play later, Mariscal returns the favor and serves up an ace as the teams exchange the first points of the game.
Haley Podkul gets a block on Confessori’s kill attempt as the Knights hear it from their home fans.
A little after that, Eleanor O’Neal gets her first kill of the game putting the Wildcats up 6-3.
Lara Clifford and Emi Chiaradonna team up for a double block on Alyssa Teske as Neuqua Valley maintains an 8-5 lead.
Teske tries with a kill and connects for the Knights, as they answer the Wildcat offensive attack and cut the lead to 10-8.
The Wildcats have the offense on full go as Mariscal gets another kill and Neuqua has their largest lead at 13-9, forcing Lincoln-Way West to call a timeout.
Out of the timeout, the knight’s offense puts it all together and Penny Smith gets the kill, and the coaches point as they look to add on.
Lincoln-Way Central has brought the deficit down to one, but another Marical first-set kill gives the Wildcats a side out.
Confessori’s kill here grows the Neuqua Valley lead to 17-13, as the Wildcats look to put away the first set.
Hailey Stumpf gets her third ace of this serving run as she helps ignite a five-point Wildcat swing, and they lead 20-13.
The Knights give it to Teske again looking for a spark. Her tip over the block gets them the point and some life back to the squad.
But it’s too little, too late for the Knights as Mariscal gets her third kill of the set securing a 25-20 set one victory for the Wildcats.
Lincoln Way Central starts set two strong
The second set gets started with an O’Neal kill, as Neuqua Valley looks to repeat their actions from the first set.
Confessori’s kill here gets some help from the net, and she’ll take the point for the Wildcats
Stumpf replicates her work from set one, keeping her aces coming as she serves them up, back-to-back. The Cats lead 4-2 early on.
The setter dump continues to not be defended as Teske capitalizes for the Knights, making it 5-4 Neuqua.
Teske continues to provide much of the Knights offense. Her kill ties things up at 10 as she continues to keep her team alive in the game.
Stumpf on the serve and she gets her game-high, sixth ace of the contest as the Wildcats tie the set at 15 after being down.
Neuqua Valley rallies to win the regional semi-final
Mariscal gets a back-row attack that skims the fingers of the triple block, allowing it to fall over. It gives Neuqua Valley their first lead of the second set since they led 5-4.
Kiera King’s kill for the Knights gives them the lead right back, as both teams exchange leads with the set reaching the end
Middle hitter Emi Chiaradonna gets two attempts at a kill, making the second one count, and the Wildcats can sense momentum heading back their way, leading 19-17.
Mariscal gets the pass and gets set up for the kill as she comes through and expresses her excitement with the rest of her team. The Wildcats are on match point, in front, 24-18.
It’s freshman Aubrey Dumstorff who uses the setter dump to give the Wildcats the victory in straight sets. Neuqua upsets Lincoln-Way Central and will now play Lockport on Thursday in the regional final.
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