Her time is now, and Metea Valley’s Olivia Stewart appears to be up to the task.
After starting the season in the shadow of some big-name players, the 6-foot-1 sophomore middle hitter has been earning time in the spotlight. And she’s peaking at the right time.
“She’s been amazing after a little bit of a slow start,” Metea Valley coach David Macdonald said, noting that senior middle Anna Murphy also was dinged up early in the season. “A lot was put on Olivia’s shoulders to perform for us, and she continued to get better and better as the season went on.
“(Stewart) is hitting one heckuva stride right now over the past month. She has been on fire and really helping us out, taking the pressure off Camille Morrison and Maddie Hopkins on the outside and Murphy in the middle.”
That was apparent Thursday night as Stewart registered five kills and two blocks for the third-seeded Mustangs in a 26-24, 25-13 win over sixth-seeded St. Charles North in the Class 4A Metea Valley Regional championship match.
Morrison, a senior outside, led the way with 12 kills as Metea (28-8) advanced to a 7 p.m. Monday match in the St. Charles North Sectional semifinals against second-seeded Glenbard West (34-3), a 25-22, 25-18 winner over Naperville Central.
Sophomore outside Hayley Burgdorf also had 12 kills for St. Charles North (22-14) in defeat. Top-seeded Benet (34-2) and second-seeded Wheaton Warrenville South (22-13) will play in the other sectional semifinal hosted by the North Stars.
Katie Schuele added 18 assists and Hopkins had four kills Thursday for Metea. Alex Bardouniotis contributed six kills and Mia McCall tallied 16 assists for St. Charles North.
But for Stewart, again, this was her time to shine.
“Even though she’s an underclassmen, Olivia definitely has a strong presence on the team,” Morrison said. “We’ve been working a lot to get our middles more involved during the game.
“She has always been able to do it. Now, everyone else is getting to see it.”
The North Stars led 12-9 during a first game slugfest that was then tied 14-14, with eight ties after that. Morrison’s kill off Schuele’s set broke a 24-24 deadlock.
Stewart followed by leaping high at the net to put down a block with her left hand.
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“I’m not left-handed at all — whatever is available,” Stewart said. “I saw the ball go up there and I wanted to put it down.
“It was one of the most intense matches we’ve had all season. We all played together. We all played like a team, and that’s what pulled through in the end.”
Stewart is club teammates with Burgdorf, who took a leading role after the North Stars lost three senior starters in Maryland recruit Katherine Scherer, Jackie Ruder and Adrianna Huptych all within a week midway through the season.
Scherer and Huptych are outside hitters. Ruder is a libero. Those are all key positions on the court.
“There’s no other team in the state that loses even two starters and does what they just did,” St. Charles North coach Lindsey Hawkins said of her team. “It just shows who they are.”
Stewart described Burgdorf as “one of my great teammates since early middle school. She’s a great friend, a great player.”
Despite facing a team that was hurting, Macdonald said he was wary of the North Stars.
“They’re still a good team.,” he said. “They would be a top four team in any other sectional, but we have such a tough sectional. You knew this was gonna be a dogfight.”
He said preventing Burgdorf from sparking runs was a key to his team’s success. He’s also excited about Stewart’s future.
“The really good news is I’ve got her for two more years,” he said.