Central Volleyball Ready To Ride Youth

Naperville Central girls volleyball coach Brie Isaacson would love to bottle up the feeling she had about her team after Wednesday's three-set win over Wheaton Warrenville South.

But with five sophomores and a freshman on the roster, she knows better.

"Every day we take a step forward, but every other day, we take a step back," Isaacson said. "It's one of those situations where the more experience they can get playing, the better they're going to be. (Wednesday), every member of our team took a step forward. But I would be crazy to think there wouldn't be another setback."

For now, the Redhawks can bask in the glory of beating an established program like the Tigers. The Redhawks were off this weekend. But in the next few days, they will get a true test of where they stand.

Tuesday, Central hits the road to play Glenbard East in DVC play before welcoming cross-town rival Naperville North Thursday. Then, both the Redhawks and Huskies play the weekend in one of the biggest volleyball tournaments in the state, Wheaton Warrenville South's talent-heavy extravaganza.

"I think beating a team like Wheaton South is a huge confidence boost for this team," Isaacson said. "They're going to believe that they can do anything. Whether or not they actually do that or not is one thing, but beating a team like that is a huge hurdle for us."

Senior Katie Battle certainly did her part Wednesday. She moved from defensive specialist to the outside and had a team-high eight kills. It was all part of Isaacson's philosophy to use the players who have been working the hardest in the match. It certainly paid off Wednesday.

"To us, a win is always important," Battle said. "Everything to us is always important. We struggled a little bit in the beginning (dropping the first set), but (Wednesday) shows that we can really come together. We're young, but we're always working hard."

That is a key point to Isaacson, who knows that the development of her young players is more important at this point of the season than the standings.

"For us, it's not about wins and losses; it's about competing," Isaacson said. "We're a varsity team. We will just continue to work hard and hopefully it will pay off in the end."