Three weeks ago, sophomore Maya Rihani was stunned to find out she was being brought up to the varsity as a starting setter for Sandburg.
At the end of the Eagles’ Class 4A regional championship match Thursday night against host Lincoln-Way East, she had a different emotion.
When Sandburg coach David Vales subbed in Rihani to help stop a last-gasp rally by the Griffins, she sprinted onto the court smiling.
Call it a mix of confidence and pride.
“It was so honoring that he put me to try and get a regional championship match point,” Rihani said.
The Eagles won the point, defeating the Griffins 25-19, 14-25, 25-19.
Sandburg (21-16) will host Andrew at 6:30 p.m. Monday in the sectional semifinals. Lockport and Bolingbrook will play in the first semifinal.
Rihani finished with 16 assists, eight digs and four aces. Sidona Rao tallied eight kills, while Sydney Vrdolyak contributed five kills and five blocks, Ally Boertlein added six kills, Reilly Chausse had 23 digs and Keira Fitzgerald had 20 assists.
Jada James led Lincoln-Way East (19-18) with 16 kills. Hayven Smith added eight kills and Ava Nepkin had five. Grace Poynton totaled 31 assists, while Abby Clarkin and Lexi Byas each had seven digs.
Rihani, meanwhile, has had a whirlwind three weeks since Vales brought her up to the varsity Oct. 6 after a two-game loss to Lockport.
“I was very surprised when I was called out of class and I was told that coach Vales wanted me to move up and play,” Rihani said. “It was kind of scary at first.
“I’m a transfer, so just being with a bunch of new girls and moving up so soon was stressful. But they welcomed me in so well.”
Rihani transferred from Andrew, where she played as a freshman on the sophomore team.
At Sandburg, she has fit in perfectly with Fitzgerald, the established sophomore setter, to run what has become a very effective 6-2 offense.
“When I was on JV, we were big sister and little sister,” Rihani said. “She would write me notes saying like, ‘Just encourage your teammates. When you make a mistake, shake it off.’ I brought that up with me here.”
Both had their moments setting Sandburg’s offense against Lincoln-Way East. Rihani was particularly clutch late in Game 3, with quick sets to both Boertlein and Elise Sterling for kills.
And her defense?
“She did so well,” Fitzgerald said of Rihani. ‘I’m so proud of her. I’m her biggest cheerleader. It’s amazing now to have her playing along with me. It couldn’t have worked out better.”
Vales also showed the ultimate trust during crunchtime in Game 3.
“There’s an ‘it’ factor in her,” Vales said of Rihani. “There’s just something that she brings to the table energy wise. At the end, I just felt I had to bring her in. We needed her in there to finish this thing, and she got it done.”
Sandburg also stood skyscraper-like tall against East.
Vrdolyak, a 5-foot-11 middle hitter, was the leader of the blocking pack. Along with Rao, Sterling and Boertlein, they combined for 14.
“Everybody was blocking, everyone was helping,” Vrdolyak said. “We’ve been working on staying low and pressing at practice. It really showed in this match.
“All of our hard work paid off with the blocking. It feels amazing. The adrenaline was so much, I couldn’t even sit down when I was on the bench.”
One player Sandburg had major problems stopping was James. The junior outside hitter set a career high for kills. Smith, a 6-5 sophomore, also had one of her best matches in the middle.
Lincoln-Way East coach Kris Fiore played four sophomores and a freshman at various points in the match.
“The future is bright,” Fiore said. “This season was about getting the kids some reps and getting them acclimated and becoming a force in varsity volleyball.
“I think those two (James and Smith), especially, have kept improving and improving. Hopefully, they have confidence moving forward.”