Glenbard West's volleyball season ended Nov. 5 in its own gym, with third-seeded Downers Grove North rallying from a set down to win the Class 4A sectional championship 18-25, 25-15, 25-18.

It was the third time this season DGN (29-9) beat the top-seeded Hilltoppers (32-7). The win gave the Trojans their first sectional title since 2018, the Daily Herald reported.

Glenbard West controlled the opening set behind dominant play at the net. Senior middle hitter Farryn Burridge recorded six of the team's eight blocks, and the Hilltoppers used their size advantage to stuff the Trojans repeatedly. Burridge, listed at 6-foot-1, had four of her blocks during a closing 10-4 run in the first set.

Then DGN's Nicole Liu took over.

Liu, a senior outside hitter and team captain, led all players in kills for the match. Shaw Local and the lead social post credited her with 14 kills, while the Daily Herald reported 13. Six of those kills came in the second set, according to Shaw Local's coverage. Liu had kills for three of DGN's first six points in the second set, giving the Trojans the lead for good at 6-5.

The Hilltoppers managed only one block across the final two sets after recording eight in the first. DGN finished the second set on a 9-2 run.

Samantha Hancock sealed the match with a kill on match point in the third set, capping a closing 9-4 run. Neither team had led by more than two points through the first 30 points of the deciding set before DGN pulled away.

The Nov. 5 loss was the sixth straight for Glenbard West against DGN, a streak dating to last season, Shaw Local reported. DGN handed the Hilltoppers three of their seven losses this year.

The match was the final one for Glenbard West senior setter Cara Herbert, a four-year varsity player committed to Loyola Maryland. Herbert finished with 19 assists and three kills, according to the Daily Herald.

Herbert credited DGN's adaptability.

"If you think they're going to do one thing, they'll do another thing," Herbert said, according to the Daily Herald. "They did a really good job of adjusting to the first set doing something different on us."

Herbert had been a freshman on the Hilltoppers' 35-win sectional finalist team in 2023.

DGN advances to face Mother McAuley (35-4) in a supersectional Nov. 9 at Lyons at 6 p.m.