Carmel tops Libertyville in 3

Girls volleyball

Carmel d. Libertyville: Caitlin Barry slammed 10 kills, Jessie Wayland added eight, and the Corsairs outlasted the Wildcats 25-16, 13-25, 25-21 in nonconference action Wednesday night.

Taylor Pippen had 4 kills and 2 blocks for Carmel Catholic (5-1), which avenged last year’s regional-final defeat. Maura Zawaski sparkled defensively for the Corsairs with 20 digs. Megan Mowery and Janelle Dewald lofted 16 and 11 assists, respectively.

Carmel jumped out to a 9-1 lead in Game 3, duplicating what it did in the opening set.

“We’re still committing too many errors, but we bounced back to pull it out in Game 3,” Corsairs coach David Pazely said.

Julia Smagatz notched 9 kills for Libertyville (1-2), which also got 5 kills apiece from Cindy Zhou, Taylor Zant and Ali Gattone. Rhiannon Prentiss had 12 digs for the Wildcats, and Zhou dished out 17 assists. Zhou and Kerry Risley added 3 blocks each, while Gattone and Nicole Kruckman had two apiece.

“As a young team, we continue to work out our kinks and will continue to face tough competition,” said coach Greg Loika, whose Wildcats face New Trier today.

Vernon Hills d. Leyden: Jenn Claussen clobbered 12 kills, as the Cougars rallied to win 23-25, 25-17, 25-13.

Vernon Hills (2-1) received 7 kills from Rachel Lira, 6 from Megan Meline and 5 from Shannon Nugent. Claussen and Nugent each served 2 aces, and Sarah Lehman had 28 assists. Meline and Claussen had 4 and 3 blocks, respectively.

Zion-Benton d. Grant: The host Zee-Bees won 25-22, 25-23, despite 3 kills apiece from the Bulldogs’ Brooke Buckley and Mallory Gizowski. Grant got 8 assist from Taylor Rossi and 8 digs from Scottley Sandnes. Sandnes also served 11 of 11 with 1 ace.