Stevenson downs Prospect

Rachel Baader said she and her Stevenson girls volleyball teammates had a goal in Game 1 against Prospect.

“We knew we had to come out with a lot of energy because they were going to be all fired up being a No. 13 seed going against a No. 4 seed,” said the talented Patriots sophomore.

Baader and Co. successfully matched the Knights' intensity from start to finish in Wednesday's semifinal of the Class 4A Highland Park regional and recorded a 25-15, 25-19 triumph over the Knights (22-13).

The Patriots (28-8) advanced to Saturday's 7 p.m. championship against the winner of today's semifinal between No. 5-seeded St. Viator (24-10) and either No. 12 Deerfield or No. 20 Waukegan.

Stevenson, which received 7 kills apiece from Baader and senior Carlee Berland, did not play Prospect in the regular season.

“This is the first time in my nine years where we haven't seen the same teams in the regional that we played during the regular season,” said Patriots coach Tim Crow. “It's kind of nice to see new teams.

“Prospect is a nice team. That No. 11 (Sarah Hunt, the school's all-time career kills leader with 650) has a tough swing but fortunately we were serving well enough so that limited her chances.”

Hunt ended up with 9 kills from 18-of-20 attacking.

Carolyn McDonough served 3 aces for the winners, who also passed well.

Mackenzie Kurth led the Pats' back row with 7 digs while Nicole Duszczyk and Baader had 6 apiece. Setters McDonough and Jenna Przybyla collected 3 each.

“I thought our serving in Game 1 gave us the momentum,” Crow said. “We were able to get them (Prospect) out of their system. We have been serving well as a team the last week.

“And our setters Przybyla has 13 assists and McDonough 7 did a great job getting the ball up to our hitters.”

A kill by Shannon Mullins (2 kills) gave Stevenson the lead for good at 5-4 in Game 1. Przybyla's kill and a hitting error by Prospect made it 7-4.

Leading 21-15, the Pats finished the game with a kill by Michelle Schroeder (3 kills) and 3 service points from Berland, including 2 aces.

McDonough's ace in Game 2 gave the Pats a 4-2 lead which they never relinquished. They got ahead by as many as 8 points (19-11) when Kierstyn Hansen blocked an overpass.

Shefali Arora also added 2 kills for the Patriots.

“We just had to come out strong and play our game,” Baader added. “We don't want our season to be over so we know we have to come out hard no matter what the seed is for the other team.”