Oswego captain Kelsey Foster knew this wasn’t a part of the plan.
The junior right-side hitter agreed that the Panthers, as the higher seed of the two teams, wanted to make quick work of Yorkville in the Class 4A Plainfield North Regional semifinals.
A tight first game meant the feisty Foxes did not get the memo.
“I think it was trying to get the nerves out and not being able to do it well enough,” Foster said. “We came in tense. They’re trying to be the underdog. We were supposed to win.
“We were playing like six individuals instead of together. After we got through that first game, we got together quickly and became like a well-oiled machine.”
Behind a spark from Foster, third-seeded Oswego survived 12 ties in the first game Tuesday night before moving on with a 26-24, 25-12 victory over 13th-seeded Yorkville.
The Panthers (28-6) will play at 6 p.m. Thursday for the regional title against ninth-seeded Plainfield North (19-14), a 25-15, 25-20 semifinal winner over Joliet Catholic (22-14).
The 5-foot-8 Foster is overshadowed by 6-1 Sidney Hamaker and 6-0 Mia Jurkovic, a pair of juniors outside hitters, and initially appears to be an unlikely team leader for Oswego.
All three were members of the varsity last season, along with junior setter Ava Flanigan, but Foster didn’t see much action until late in the season and then as a defensive specialist.
She was, however, on the floor when the Panthers were ousted from the postseason in a first-round match. She was elected one of the team’s first captains in the preseason.
Hamaker, the Long Beach State recruit who finished with a match-high 11 kills Tuesday, remembers how it went down.
“Players were asked to speak to the team so we could vote,” Hamaker said. “And Kelsey’s was the best by far.”
Foster, who finished with three kills on four attacks and six digs, also provided a spark early in the first game, serving a four-point run that included an ace.
That surge was fueled by a kill and a block from Hamaker and a kill from senior middle Riley Borrowman off a quick set from Flanigan, who was playing while a bit under the weather, according to Hamaker.
“I try to be the energizer and take our team and make it a family,” Foster said. “Last year, we were good but we didn’t have that energy and didn’t win as many as we could. If we stick together, we can do better.
“I want to be that one person they can look to for positivity. I want to be that person.”
Yorkville coach Ryan Donato got a positive effort from freshman Joelle Pye-Blacknard, who had seven of her team-high eight kills in the first game for the Foxes (13-23).
“We played as well as we possibly can in that first set,” Donato said. “We stuck to the game plan. We knew they like to go to the outsides, (Hamaker) and (Jurkovic).
“We wanted to serve to them, make them pass the ball before they could go hit.”
Hamaker and Jurkovic, who added nine kills, got the offense clicking in the second game.
“We had to settle in, calm down,” Hamaker said. “Once we did, everything came together.”
Before that, Foster helped keep it together.
“Kelsey was finding the lanes for us at the net,” Oswego coach Gary Mosley said. “I had a perfect view and she was dissecting their block, and they had a good block. Even on the outside, once we needed her to get us out of the rotation, and she threaded the needle right through the seam.
“She stepped up. The stat sheet might not show it, but she carried us a lot on the front line. When she gets her chances, she goes up and pokes it. I love it.”