Naperville North’s Paige Lauterwasser was feeling a little edgy in advance of her final home match on Thursday.
“Throughout the day, I definitely was a little bit nervous,” she said. “My stomach was churning throughout the whole day, just knowing what was on the line.”
Turns out there was nothing to be worried about — and much to be celebrated.
Lauterwasser smashed 13 kills to go with 10 digs, nine service points and three aces as she led the Huskies to a 25-20, 25-19 victory against Plainfield North in the Class 4A Naperville North Regional championship match.
It is the first regional title since 2018 for third-seeded Naperville North (34-3), which advances to play second-seeded Metea Valley (25-8) in the Plainfield North Sectional semifinals on Monday.
“I’ve never won a regional, so this is my first time,” Lauterwasser said. “I didn’t really know what that would feel like. But once we stepped on the court, I kind of knew that we were going to be able to pull through and come away with a win.”
Lauterwasser was a major reason for that. The Wyoming-bound senior outside hitter continued her blistering offensive pace and became the fourth player in program history to reach 1,000 career kills.
Lauterwasser knew she needed five kills to reach the plateau. It came at a key time in the first set.
Fifth-seeded Plainfield North (27-10) led 20-17 until a serving error gave the ball to Naperville North’s Maddie Saad, who proceeded to serve the final seven points of the set, including two aces.
Lauterwasser’s historic kill pulled the Huskies within 20-19, forcing the Tigers to call timeout.
“At one of the timeouts, my coach told me that I got my 1,000th kill,” Lauterwasser said. “It’s definitely a huge achievement. It was unexpected because I didn’t really have a sophomore year because of COVID.”
Indeed, Lauterwasser’s sophomore season was limited to 10 matches due to the coronavirus pandemic, which Naperville North coach Jennifer Urban said cost Lauterwasser several hundred kills.
Even so, Lauterwasser persevered. She joins Colleen Ward (1,551), Katie Bruzdzinski (1,340) and Sarah Kushner (1,201) as the only Huskies with 1,000 kills.
Ward was an All-American at Illinois, and Bruzdzinski was an All-American honorable mention at Michigan. Kushner is a senior at Illinois State.
“After last year, I asked my coaches if it would be possible for me to get my 1,000th kill, and they were unsure because I wasn’t really super close,” Lauterwasser said. “I’m just really happy that I was able to do it. It was a really big milestone of mine that I wanted to accomplish.”
Lauterwasser’s teammates were thrilled to see her reach her goal, and so were fans, who paraded around the court after the match holding signs.
“I’m so proud of her,” said Shelby Erickson, who had five blocks. “She’s worked so hard, and she completely deserves every bit of the recognition she’s getting and all these goals and records she’s breaking.”
Plainfield North got 17 assists from setter Ella Strausberger, who is the daughter of Naperville Central boys volleyball coach Roger Strausberger.
The Tigers led 18-17 in the second set, but Lauterwasser responded with a kill and six straight service points, including two aces, before Erickson’s kill iced the Huskies’ 18th consecutive win.
It was a fitting end to Lauterwasser’s last appearance at Naperville North.
“It was set up perfectly for her,” Urban said. “It’s been on her radar all year to reach 1,000 kills. Ultimately, her focus was definitely on a regional championship. It was just icing on the cake to get the 1,000th kill in this match at home.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.