That certainly could be the theme song for the Plainfield North girls volleyball team. The Tigers have made some changes that have worked out for the better and those continued in a 25-19, 25-21 victory over Lockport Thursday night in the semifinals of the Class 4A Oswego East Regional.

North, the No. 10 seed, has won its last eight matches and improved to 22-8. The Tigers will play No. 2 seed Hinsdale Central, which improved to 32-4 with a 25-19, 25-10 win over Romeoville in Thursday's last match, for the regional title at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

"In the last eight matches, we're playing the best volleyball of the season," North coach Kerri McCastland said. "We changed our lineup, our positions, our serving order. It was just a whole new commitment.

"The practice is the homework and this is the test. I have some of the greatest students I ever had who aced this test and we're excited all the way around."

A pair of senior veterans led the Tigers. Outside hitter Kylee Baker had 10 of her 11 kills in Game 2 and middle hitter Sarah Scott had 5 of her 7 kills in Game 1. Both are four-year varsity players.

"We switched our defense to a man-up from a perimeter," said Scott, who will attend the University of Texas at San Antonio next year. "We thought it would work better for us.

"They (Lockport) beat us before, but I really wanted this one, the whole team did."

Lockport, which was the No. 7 seed in its own sectional, finished the season at 24-12.

"For the past three seasons, we've lost in the first round and that hurts," Lockport coach Julia Hudson said. "But I can't say enough about Plainfield North. We had prepared well for them and thought we knew them intimately, but they played very effectively."

North controlled most of the opening game, jumping out to a 4-1 lead. The Porters trailed 9-6, but rallied for a 13-11 lead on kills by senior outside hitter Allie Gritzman (5 kills, 8 digs) and junior outside hitter Alexis Davito (6 kills).

But North responded with a 10-2 blitz that featured a pair of aces from junior middle hitter Kaisley Fisher (4 kills, 3 digs, 2 blocks) and two blocks and an ace from Scott. Lockport got back within 21-18 on a kill by senior middle hitter Jessica Kroll, but the Tigers ended the opener with a 4-1 run, including an ace by senior outside hitter Kylee Koon (3 kills, 7 digs, 2 aces) to end it.

It looked like Lockport might rally in Game 2. The Porters jumped out to a 9-4 advantage behind a pair of kills from senior middle hitter Danielle Sladek (5 kills). But back came the Tigers, tying the game at 12-12 on a kill by Fisher.

The Porters had their last lead at 14-13, then North peeled of a 7-0 burst behind a trio of kills from Baker, who will play at Ball State next year.

"It was just a big adrenalin rush," said Baker of her 10 kills in Game 2. "We have just worked together as a team to get to where we are now."

The Porters couldn't get any closer than three the rest of the way, the final time at 24-21 on a tip kill from senior Dana Raber -- who had missed nearly three weeks with a high right ankle sprain. Raber played every offensive position for Lockport this season, but only saw limited action in Game 2 on Thursday night.

Baker then put down the match-winning kill, an untouched hit in the middle, to end it.

"Those are my favorite," said Baker. "I just sort of exhaled after that one. We made pivotal changes, we know we've got another one on Saturday, but this is a great feeling."

North junior setter Hannah Crippen finished with 23 assists and 5 kills. Lockport sophomore setter Christina Wilson had 18 assists and 6 digs and senior libero Lexi Finger added 5 digs for the Porters.

Lockport defeated North on Monday, Sept. 28, in Plainfield by rallying for an 18-25, 25-19, 25-18 victory. But there was no repeat of that Thursday night.

"Everyone has just played their positions and that's been the positive for us," McCastland said. "Before the match, I told the girls to go out and do what you do -- and they did."

Romeoville, which was the No. 15 seed and finished the season at 18-18, defeated host Oswego East 25-21, 25-23 in the opening match. Junior middle hitter Jackie Nudelman had an ace to end the match for the Spartans, who finished third in the Southwest Prairie Conference with a record of 8-6.