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Sports

Romeo, Hinsdale South Volleyball Win Regional Title

A 15-point service run in the second game by Danielle Romeo powers the Hornets to a 25-20, 25-9 victory over Oswego East.

Third-seeded Hinsdale South, led by senior Danielle Romeo, defeated No. 11-seed Oswego East 25-20, 25-9 to win the Class 4A regional championship Saturday at Plainfield East.

The first game was a back-and-forth affair with neither side able to get a run of more than four points. The Hornets (31-6) took advantage of little mistakes made by the Wolves (18-15) throughout the game.

Sophomore Jessica Brezwyn and senior Morgan Howard were able to deliver decisive kills at key points to force the Wolves' defense into making sloppy, off-balance passes. Brezwyn had 12 kills between the two games and Morgan had eight.

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The Hornets, for their part, also looked unnerved in the first game, letting easy shots go by and making mistakes on defense at the net.

For the second game, Hornets coach Lisa Martinez said, "We talked about playing with better composure."

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The pep talk paid off. After a back-and-forth start, Romeo took the serve with an 8-5 lead and started a 15-point rally that put the Wolves in a huge hole. Her hard, low-trajectory serves confounded the Wolves' defense. She had five aces during the run and received some excellent assistance from Brezwyn and Morgan at the net, dropping hard tip shots against the Wolves.

Romeo seemed just as surprised as everyone else about her streak. "I have never had a run like that before in my life," she said. "It feels pretty good.My team was ready for anything that came our way. It was a total team effort."

"They really played for each other today," Martinez said. "That's the definition of a team effort. They did a great job."

The Wolves struggled throughout most of the match with communication and serving lapses, which kept them from making a serious run.

"With communication, we have to be perfect, especially at this point in the season," Oswego East coach Adam Thurlwell said. "We weren't and it caught up to us."

Senior Viola Lisha had the best overall match for East with two serving aces and some excellent kills in the first game that kept the Wolves in contention early. In the end, though, it wasn't enough.

The Hornets move on to the Romeoville Sectional. They will play Hinsdale Central on Tuesday night. Hinsdale Central defeated Naperville Central 25-17, 25-5.

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