Three weeks ago, without two starters, Young fell to Lane in the Northside tourney. Playing without two starters yet again, the Dolphins were looking to avenge that loss, but with a trip to the city finals on the line.
Young survived, defeating the Indians 25-20, 26-24 in a Public League semifinal Wednesday at Northside.
It wasn’t easy for the Dolphins. Lane led 15-11 halfway through the first set when something clicked for the Dolphins. They rattled off a 14-5 run to end the set, giving them the 25-20 win.
“Once we put a couple balls down, we became more confident,’’ said senior Tom Wesolowski, who had three kills of his game-high 16 kills in the closing run. “We just needed to refocus on what we had to do.’’
Much like the first set, the second started off as a back-and-forth affair. This time the roles were reversed, as Young built a four-point lead and had four match points.
Lane fended off all of the Dolphins’ match points, tying the score at 24-24 on an error by Wesolowski. The senior made up for it on the next two plays, as he put down a kill and served an ace for the win.
With the victory, Young (17-12) advances to play Payton in the city finals at UIC Friday at 5:30. It will be a rematch of last year’s title match, which was won by Young. Payton won the teams’ only match this season, April 2, in three sets.
“It’s a huge rivalry,’’ Wesolowski said. “It’s always Young and Payton, Young and Payton. We know their strengths are Earl [Schultz] and Alex [Bresler]. We can’t shut them down completely, because they’re going to score. But we will have to contain them.’’
Zakir Pasha had six kills for Lane.
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