Barrington sweeps to victory at Elk Grove
The Barrington girls volleyball program continued to rack up the wins on Saturday, and as a result the Fillies earned the championship of the Elk Grove Invite.
Barrington (16-2) went 5-0, defeating Lakes (25-21, 24-26, 15-7), Crystal Lake South (20-25, 25-18, 15-6), Elk Grove (25-13, 25-16), Willowbrook (25-20, 25-10) and Stevenson (25-21, 25-12).
Leading the attack for the Mid-Suburban West front-runners were Julia Thompson (40 kills), Olivia Szuzkiewicz (31), Lauren Shechtman (27 kills) and Peyton Lang (21 kills).
Lauren Shechtman had 11 blocks for coach Rob Ridenour’s group while Madison Keller and setter Lauren Dunseith each had 6.
Dunseith collected 100 assists while Claire Waliczek handed out 10.
Emily Canaletto and Dunseith each served 6 aces while Thompson had 4.
The back row was led by Thompson (33 digs), Canaletto (31), Szuzkiewicz (29) and Amanda Dee (27).
Pifer Invite: The depth on Libertyville’s girls volleyball team was shining brightly on Saturday at the 30th annual Pifer Invitational at Prospect High School.
Backup setter Molly Moon, making the first five starts of her varsity career, helped steer the Wildcats to their third straight championship of the invite named for longtime Knights girls volleyball coach Sandy Pifer.
With Moon directing a 5-1 for most of the invite, the Wildcats went 5-0 for the third straight time in the Jean Walker Field House.
“It was so fun,” said Moon, a three-sport athlete (track and field, basketball) who played on the junior varsity volleyball team a year ago. “I know I can run any play because we have so much depth with our hitters.”
Prospect was the only team to get to 20 points on Libertyville in any set.
The Wildcats (14-5) topped the Knights 25-9, 25-20.
Prospect (7-11) and Palatine (7-10) each went 2-3 in the invite.
“This was improvement for us,” said Knights coach Mike Riedy. “We have been struggling the last few weeks.
“I thought both our setters (Danielle Siwik and all-tourney selection Shea Gallus) played well and Lauren Yearian did a phenomenal job, especially since she was playing a new position (outside hitter). Colleen Chuipek also stepped up her game.”
Yearian led the Knights (7-11) with 22 kills while Maura Benson had 15 and Chuipek 11.
Siwik handed out 43 assists and Gallus 39.
All-tourney pick Laura Kluk delivered 73 assists for the Palatine offense while Casey Dolen collected 60 digs in the back row. The Pirates notched their wins over Lake Park and McHenry.
“We haven’t been doing all that amazing but this tournament was decent,” Kluk said. “We just need to work a little bit on a mixture of things. We really hit a high in our first match of the day (25-9, 25-4 win over Maine East) when we played with a lot of energy.”
Cassie Chaplinsky added 34 digs for Palatine while Sarah Schiffner had 35.
Top attackers for the Pirates were Taylor Fricano (33 kills) and Val Soderstrom (14). Kluk and Hather Suiter each chipped in 7 blocks.
“We started out with some great execution and real good consistency,” said Pirates coach Dan Gavin. “I thought Casey Dolen did a great job at libero, probably the best job she has done all season.”
Kluk also had 13 kills.
“Laura had a great day setting and she is definitely starting to emerge as a leader on the court,” Gavin added. “We go as she goes. She is a terrific athlete and she covers up a lot of mistakes on the floor.”