Updated: September 29, 2011 9:08PM

Coulda. Woulda. Shoulda.

Hinsdale South has heard that story before.

Melissa Deatsch ended a marathon first game with a blast off a Hinsdale South defender and Sam Schrenker snuffed off the Hornets’ comeback effort in Game 2 with a block at 24-20 as the Dukes held on to defeat the hosts 29-27, 25-20 in a West Suburban crossover match Thursday in Darien.

No. 10 Hinsdale South (16-7) led 18-14 in Game 1 and had set point at 24-23 on a Rachel Kent kill when Deatsch split a pair of defenders to get the teams even. It was one of six ties over the final 12 points. No. 2 York (18-2) had the best of it, reaching set point three times.

“It was fun,” said York setter Katie Gallagher, who had 18 assists, four kills and a block. “We’ve been working on that in practice, bringing a lot of energy. We knew Hinsdale South was going to bring a lot of energy and they were going to show us a good game.

“That’s always a good situation to be put in because it tests you and it tests your teammates,” she added. “You have to be focusing a lot on believing in your teammates and pushing through to the last point. I think that’s what we did.”

On the other side of the net, however, it was an all too familiar story.

“I’m happy we battled,” Hinsdale South coach Lisa Martinez said. “It shows we’re right there. But how many more times are we going to say. ‘We’re right there?’ When are you going to get that big win? We should have won that first game.

“We’re doing some nice things, but do you really want to say at the end of the season, ‘Coulda, woulda, shoulda?” Martinez added.

York took command early in Game 2, breaking to a 5-1 lead on an ace and kill from the backrow by Deatsch. But Hinsdale South erased the deficit in a heartbeat and built an 11-8 advantage on a kill by Jessica Brezwyn.

However, York answered with an 11-2 run and held on despite a stellar performance by Hinsdale South middle hitter Melissa Nava, who had 10 kills and two blocks.

“Nava is phenomenal volleyball player,” Martinez said. “She can take over a match. But when you got maybe three gears working and three gears not working, it doesn’t work. I thought Sharon (setter Anderson) played a heckuva match, too. But it’s getting the gears all together right now.”

Deatsch led York with seven kills, a block and three aces. Caroline Rose added six kills and Morgan Semmelhack added five kills and a block.

“We’ve didn’t play our game on our side of the net, and that’s been our problem all year,” York coach Patty Iverson said. “We have to play volleyball on our side, So before the second game I said don’t even worry about what’s on the other side, just play our side, and you know we didn’t do any differently.

“We still didn’t stop No. 3 (Nava), she’s a great hitter,” Iverson added. “We did better on the outsides, we got some blocks on the outside. But we just have to play and not worry about what’s on the other side. We still have a long way to go. We have a lot of things we can fix.”

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