Fitzpatrick, Trevians save best for last to advance to sectional championship

Endings don’t become happy all on their own.

They take work, and New Trier volleyball’s recent focus on strong finishes was put on display Tuesday night during a sectional match.

“We’ve been practicing that,” Trevians coach Hannah Hsieh said. “We’ve definitely played games where we’ve let up. Especially when we win the first set, I think there’s a bit of mental relaxing. We’ve really been focusing on pushing to 20 and then finishing the game.”

In each set of a match win against Maine South Nov. 3 at Schaumburg High School, New Trier ended on a 7-2 run, slamming the door on the Hawks’ hopes of a comeback each time.

The victory pushes the Trevians, the sectional’s No. 2 seed, through to the sectional championship and a Thursday, Nov. 5 date with neighborhood rival and No. 1 seed Loyola Academy, which bested Niles West in straight sets just before New Trier-Maine South.

The Trevians separated from the Hawks Tuesday midway through both sets. Each time, Maine South could only hang around a few more points before New Trier surged.

The Trevians turned 18-15 advantages into 25-17 victories both times.

“That’s something we’ve been working on specifically in practice — finishing games, not giving up at the end once we have a lead,” senior middle Mia Fitzpatrick said. “We did a good job of playing consistently, which is something we’ve been working on the entire season.”

Fitzpatrick was a force at the net all evening, finishing with six offensive kills and another two blocks for points. Half of Fitzpatrick’s kills came during the Trevians’ late-set surges.

She was one of five Trevians with at least three kills, and one of four Trevs to post at least one block-kill.

“It felt great,” Fitzpatrick said of the performance. “We’ve been working so hard this entire season to build connections with our setters and our whole team. That game you saw it really come together and it came together so beautifully and I’m so happy for us.”

Senior Serena Bauer also had 6 kills, while junior Olivia Sylvester added 5, junior Ciara Farrell 4 and senior Kate Andersons 3. Sylvester and sophomore Sarah Riddle added two block-kills apiece.

Hsieh said the team’s depth of talent is a real benefit come gametime.

“We have a lot of strength on this team,” she said. “I think there is a lot of depth, and we just talk about how not many teams are playing this level of high-level scrimmages every day. That’s a huge advantage for us.”

New Trier (26-8, 8-2) finished the regular season as Central Suburban South champions and earned the second seed in the IHSA Class 4A Schaumburg Sectional.

With their three playoff wins, including a regional-title triumph, so far, the Trevians are riding a 10-match winning streak as they ready for the Ramblers (24-14), who are winners of nine of their last 10 matches, at 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, in Schaumburg.

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