Sidney Hamaker finds the finesse, helps Oswego finish off Yorkville in regional final

YORKVILLE – Sidney Hamaker acknowledges that it took her some time to accept incorporating finesse off her power game.

As recent as last year? Never.

“Last year I don’t think I tipped once. I would hit the entire time,” said Hamaker, Oswego’s 6-foot-1 senior outside hitter and Long Beach State recruit. “But those work. Hitting is more fun, but tipping is still a kill. I don’t know, I guess I just like watching them struggle and not be ready for it.”

Hamaker picked an opportune time to break out the finesse stuff Thursday. She dropped in tip kills twice for tying points in the second half of the second set. It helped second-seeded Oswego turn away a spirited effort from eighth-seeded Yorkville for a 25-12, 25-23 win in the Class 4A Yorkville Regional final.

Hamaker, who had a match-high 12 kills, said her shot selection was less about seeing something there and more scouting. Her tip kills tied the second set at 14, and again at 19 after Yorkville had led throughout the second set.

“We watched film yesterday and stayed after Tuesday to watch their match,” Hamaker said. “We knew that it would be open so if I was in trouble with the block I would put it in there.”

Hamaker had her way with the power against a smaller Yorkville team for much of Thursday’s match. Oswego coach Gary Mosley, though, said that mixing things up reflects the evolution in his star hitter’s game.

“It’s been really hard to get a kid like that to dial back a little bit. It took some coaching and working together and telling her that your 80% is still really really strong,” Mosley said. “For her to understand that, she’s come a long way this season. It’s something she’s been working on. In club she doesn’t get those chances too often in the middle. It’s something she’s had to work on. She’s just so coachable. Can’t respect her more.”

Mosley respected his opponent enough to know that it would be no walk in the park Thursday, even if the first set suggested so.

Hamaker had five kills and Western Michigan commit Mia Jurkovic four of her six kills with two aces in the first set. Oswego dominated from the start, a Hamaker kill starting a 9-1 run for an 11-3 lead in a set in which the Panthers didn’t commit a hitting error until the 26th point.

“That first set was an outlier,” Mosley said “I know [Yorkville coach] Ryan [Donato], he always has his team ready. We expected them to have some butterflies and they’d get it together.”

Indeed the Foxes did, jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead in the second set. Junior middle Maggie Konicek’s blocks accounted for two of the four points, and another Konicek block gave Yorkville a 15-14 lead. Four Foxes had kills in a second set that was tied seven times, the last at 19-19.

“In between sets we made a lineup adjustment, went from a 5-1 to a 6-2. We wanted to get better blockers and we had a good start getting the blocks early,” Donato said. “First set we didn’t diversify our offense whatsoever. At 15-5 all we had set was two kids. We really were harping on the kids to spread that around, diversity our offense to give Oswego better looks. We did a much better job.”

Hamaker’s tip kill tied it 19-19, and Maya Norlin’s block gave Oswego (31-4) the lead for good.

“We knew they didn’t want to lose, and that they would come out with more energy and I don’t think we took them as seriously as we should have,” Hamaker said. “It’s a battle back and forth. We knew that’s how it will be in the playoffs.”

Ava Flanigan added 17 assists and Alexis Terrazas and Jurkovic four digs each for Oswego, which broke last year’s program win record on Tuesday and on Thursday won the program’s second straight regional title.

“They caught us in an out of tempo there, they had a good block, we made a few adjustments and got us back in the game,” Mosley said “Service run from the sophomore [Amelia Mosley] got us over the hill and then we just kept chipping away. Yorkville played their hearts out and that’s what we expected.”

The Panthers advance to face Joliet West in Tuesday’s sectional semifinal at Bolingbrook, seeking to go one step further in the playoffs than last year. Oswego beat Joliet West in three sets a week ago to clinch the Southwest Prairie West title.

“Good program, good team, well coached,” Mosley said “We’re going to get back in the gym and be ready. One day at a time. It’s been the motto since July.”

Yorkville closed its season at 17-19.

“People may look and say we underperformed, but we played a tough schedule. We went to three sets 21 times this season – we are the queens of three so we know we’re never out,” Donato said. “This is a group of kids that got along and had a lot of love for each other. We had a lot of love for them.”