Yorkville Volleyball Off To Best Start Ever

One team was unbeaten and the other in search of its first victory. But you wouldn’t have guessed that while watching Thursday’s marathon volleyball match at .

Visiting Oswego took to the court after a 0-5 start to the season and promptly claimed the opener 25-21 over the Foxes, who are enjoying their best start ever and who had yet to drop a game.

The Panthers then battled their way to a match point at 24-23 in Game 2 only to see that game — and eventually the match — slip away as  (8-0) rebounded to claim the middle game 26-24 and then the decisive game 25-19 to stay perfect on the year.

“We just believe in ourselves. That is what took us all the way,” Foxes senior captain Rebecca Nauman said after the thrilling win. “It felt awesome to pull that out.”

 coach Mike Dunn preaches mental toughness to his players all the time and on Thursday it was that tough approach that helped them fend off an Oswego squad that is much better than its record would indicate.

“It’s mental toughness that did it tonight,” Dunn said. “Those girls really competed. I can’t say enough about what they did. It’s the first time we’ve started 8-0 in school history.”

The Panthers, playing without injured star outside hitter Sydney Volovski, did their best to snap the host's unbeaten string. Senior outside hitter Brittany Maertzig (eight kills, one block) and freshman outside hitter Payton Poulter (seven kills, five digs) provided a potent attack for Oswego.

After Destiny Stuersel (16 assists, five blocks) set up Maertzig for a kill to claim the opener 25-21, the second game was so tight that neither team ever led by more than three points. Even so, Oswego looked posed for a sweep after Katherine Daley slammed down one of her six kills on the night for a match point at 24-22.

The Foxes, however, stayed alive after clutch kills from Nauman and Jordann Dhuse (11 kills, seven digs), combined with a pair of Panthers errors, gave the hosts the game 26-24.

rode that momentum to a 5-1 lead in the third game, but the Panthers did still draw even at 17 before eventually coming up short.

“We’re 0-6 but this might be one of the best teams ever at Oswego,” said Panthers coach Erica Lorenz, whose squad opened with some tough competition at the Plainfield North tournament. “We played tough but we had a lot of mental mistakes in that third game and they were tense out there.”

For the Foxes, Julia Craig shared match-high honors with Dhuse with 11 kills, while Nikki Fulco had 16 assists. Shelby Ritsema had three blocks and three kills for the Panthers.