Waubonsie Valley too much for Oswego East

Updated: September 7, 2011 8:01PM

When a team is disrupted everyone feels it, especially the opposing team.

Waubonsie Valley noticed something was off with host Oswego East and quickly pounced on the Wolves in the first game Wednesday afternoon. Oswego East was more competitive in Game 2 but was still swept by the Warriors 25-17, 25-22.

“Volleyball is such a momentum game,” said Warriors coach Kristen Stuart, whose team built a quick six point lead and stretched it to 10 at one point. “I thought we did a good job controlling the tempo and regaining momentum when they got a couple points and put a bigger run up ourselves.”

As it turns out, Oswego East (2-5) had literally gone back to the drawing board following Tuesday’s loss to Oswego. The Wolves were tied 19-19 in Game 2, but Waubonsie reeled off four straight points. Oswego East’s seven service errors were the deciding factor in the second game.

“It was the first time we’d played this rotation all year,” said Oswego East coach Adam Thurlwell, who adjusted for the loss of the injured Nicole Burge. “We tried something out against Oswego and it just did not look good. I went home and was drawing things up and in our run through before the game we discussed who was going where. … The first game was the adjustment game, but towards the end we got some momentum because they got comfortable with it.”

Senior outside hitter Lisa Studnicka led the Warriors (5-5) with 14 kills and four digs, while Danielle Vandenberg had five kills and setter Rachel Minarick set them up with 21 assists.

The backline defense was especially strong for Waubonsie with senior Geena Mancuso (10 digs) and senior libero Lauren Clarke (eight sigs) making concerted efforts to dive for the Wolves’ short serves.

“I’m continually pleased with the effort by Lauren and Geena,” Stuart said. “Other players need to step it up, but those two have definitely helped us out in serve-receive defense and with their hustle plays.”

Natalia Mendieta had 18 assists for the Wolves, setting up Allyah Everson’s eight kills to go with four apiece from Brittany Warnecke and Kelly Bertrand. Jordan Reifsteck added 15 digs and Layne Hillesland had four service points.

“We worked hard,” Thurlwell said. “We responded really well after a bad loss last night. For a first match with a brand new rotation—like a brand new offense in football—if there was ever something as a good loss, it was this. I’ll take it.”

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