Dunseith helps Barrington get it done

With their black and red uniforms, the host Palatine and Barrington girls volleyball teams looked awfully similar on Tuesday.

But there was one difference between the teams that stood out on this particular night — the Fillies’ serving.

Barrington was 45-for-50 with a season-high 16 aces — half by 5-foot-11 senior setter Lauren Dunseith — and the Fillies came away with a comfortable 25-12, 25-18 triumph in the Mid-Suburban West match.

With her team already leading 12-5 in Set 1 after jumping out to a 7-0 lead, Dunseith served 8 straight points, notching 5 aces in the streak that led to a 20-5 advantage.

“Serving was probably our strong suit in this match,” said Dunseith, who also collected 16 assists. “Playing with a lot of the Palatine girls in club volleyball, I kind of had an edge in knowing who and how to serve at them. I tried to strategically place them. That knowledge is probably what helped me have a special night for serving.”

Senior Natasha Singh and classmate Olivia Szuszkiewicz each added 3 aces as the Fillies improved to 5-0 and 2-0 in the MSL West.

“Honestly, I thought we could be where we’re at now,” Dunseith said. “We had a real nice summer with everyone working real hard. I can see all our hard work in practice shining through now in our matches.”

“The team energy is really high,” said Szuszkiewicz, who led Barrington with 7 kills, followed by Lauren Shectman (4) and Julia Thompson (4). Everyone feels connected and we are all in synch.”

Palatine (4-4, 1-1) made things tougher on the visitors in Set 2. It was tied at 10-10 when Pirates junior Cassie Chaplinsky put down a kill.

The Fillies, however, managed to take command for good at 11-10 on a tip by Szuszkiewicz which started a 5-0 run, capped by back-to-back aces from Singh.

“Natasha comes into the serve and she did a real nice job at that,” said Fillies coach Rob Ridenour. “We served great as a team and Lauren (Dunseith) had a great night.”

Singh’s third ace of the match made it 22-16 in set 2.

Palatine got a side out on setter Laura Kluk’s third kill before Barrington closed out the match with an ace by Emily Casaletto and tip by Szuszkiewicz.

Kluk, a four-year varsity performer, also had 9 digs, 1 ace, 2 blocks and 9 assists.

“Laura did some good things,” said Pirates coach Dan Gavin. “Taylor (Fricano) had a couple of nice swings on attack. We just struggled to get her the ball.

“Obviously, our serve receive broke down. That, compounded with our own errors, is a recipe for disaster against a solid team like Barrington.”

Senior Amanda Hilmer added 3 kills for the Pirates while junior Casey Dolen had 7 digs.

On the Barrington side, Shectman and Thompson helped the net play with 2 block apiece while senior Amanda Dee sparked the back row with 10 digs.

But the big story was serving, particularly Dunseith’s.

“Although I love setting, I’ve always realized how important serving is,” she said.

“Barrington put a lot of pressure on us,” Gavin said. “We just didn’t handle it.”

Hersey d Prospect: Three-time defending MSL champion Hersey (7-2, 2-0) scored a 25-16, 25-17 triumph as seniors Kelsey Haas (10 kills), Kristen Pedersen (6) and Maggie Hogen (4) led the attack.

Setter Abby Fesl was 3-of-3 on attack with 3 kills in addition to handing out a match-high 23 assists. Taylor Schill and Allie Mueller led the back row with 9 digs apiece.

Lauren Yearian and Colleen Chupiek each had 3 kills for Prospect (2-2, 1-1) while Sage Rebecca was 14-of-15 serve receiving.

Fremd d. Hoffman Estates: The Vikings, coming off a fifth -place tourney in the Early Bird Tournament, improved to 7-3 and 3-0 in the MSL West with a 25-19, 21-25 25-23 triumph.

Becca Stoczynski (7 kills), Destinee Young (6) and Becky Knapik (6) led the attack for Hoffman Estates (3-9, 0-2). Stoczynski also collected 23 digs and 3 blocks.

Rolling Meadows d. Buffalo Grove: Senior Veronica Drabowski (8 kills), junior Rachel Mickey (7 kills) and junior Amy Wenzel (5 kills) led the attack for Meadows (3-6, 1-1) in a 25-23, 23-25, 25-21 triumph.

Jenny Vliet (13 assist) and Olivia Falk (5 assists) set the offense while Wenzel and Mickey each had a pair of aces.

BG (3-6, 1-1) was led by Bailey North (10 kills), Alaina Murphy (8) and Paige Smith (7). Victoria Ito collected 14 digs while Kathy Hampton (19 assists) and Mary Guth (10 assists) directed the offense.

Schaumburg d. Conant: Defending MSL West champ Schaumburg (5-3, 2-0) recorded a 25-20, 19-25, 25-17 triumph behind the attack of junior Kelly Koutnik (16 kills), senior Bria Hailey (7 kills) and sophomore Kiana Lewis (6 kills). Koutnik’s big match also included 8-of-8 serving, 11-of-11 serving and 1 dig.

Lewis had a team-high 15 digs while Meghan Falsey (17 assists) and Sam Mellert (11 assists) set the offense.

Jenn Donnell (7 kills) and Morgan Peterson (4) led Conant (2-7, 0-2) on attack. Teammate Rachael Yordon collected 27 digs while Suzi Lorznjakovic (7 assists) and Taylor Levitt (6 assists) set the offense.

Elk Grove d. Wheeling: Junior Diamond Boyd (8 kills, 7 blocks) and senior Samantha Hopkins (3 kills, 12 digs) helped lead Elk Grove to a 25-15, 25-23 victory. Brittany Tickner (1 ace) added 3 kills for the Grens (3-5, 1-1).

Senior Kellie Kuzmanic put down 6 kills with 8 digs and 2 aces for Wheeling (1-8, 0-2) while teammates Sydney Keith had 4 kills and Joanna Stankowicz added 4 aces with 4 digs.