Stevenson wins own invite
Stevenson’s girls volleyball team welcomed back Rachel Baader to its lineup, and the veteran hitter helped lead the Patriots to the championship of their own invitational Saturday.
Stevenson went 5-0 on the day, defeating Libertyville 25-22, 25-17 for the title, as Baader slammed 10 kills.
Baader, Liza Pflugradt and Michelle Schroeder represented Stevenson (21-5) on the all-tournament team.
Libertyville (19-6, 4-1) didn’t drop a set in its first four matches, before meeting up with Stevenson. The result was the same as the two teams’ North Suburban Conference Lake Division match last week.
Coach Greg Loika said his Wildcats “passed tight, and the offensive flow that had been present all day, disappeared.”
Libertyville had won the last two Stevenson invites.
“We made a valiant effort in Set 1 after being down 23-18 to push four straight points to force the Stevenson timeout at 23-22,” Loika said. “Nicole Kruckman appeared to have a block in the middle, but the Pats covered it in dramatic fashion and were able to scrap out the big point on a hitting error.”
Stevenson bolted to an 11-1 advantage in Set 2.
“They just seemed to have our number today,” Loika said. “I thought we actually played better than our first matchup (even though that match went 3). We just need to handle the ball better on our side of the net.
“Twice now we’ve passed poorly against them, and it definitely determines our efficiency at the net. We gave away way too many points in the match, and Stevenson really made us work for our points. When we passed well, I felt we had pretty good control of the points.”
Libertyville’s Kristen Webb and Kerry Risley were chosen to the all-tourney team.
Lake Forest invite: Led by all-tournament selections Heidi Sierks and Tori Lanzillotti, the host Scouts captured the championship with a 25-20, 29-27 win over Carmel Catholic.
Lake Forest went 5-0 on the day, while Carmel finished 4-1. The Corsairs placed Taylor Pippen and Megan Mowery on the all-tournament team.
Grayslake North (7-17) went 1-4, defeating Deerfield 31-29, 25-15 and also playing well in a 25-14, 25-20 loss to Lake Forest. Katie McGrath had 23 kills, 41 digs, 4 blocks and 3 aces for the Knights. Kayla Huck (68 digs) earned a spot on the all-tourney team for Grayslake North.
The Knights had 50 and 60 digs against Lake Forest and Deerfield, respectively. They rang up 214 (42.8 per match) on the day.
Vernon Hills (15-10, 3-2) took fifth and was led by all-tournament choice Megan Meline (33 kills, 6 blocks). The Cougars received 29 kills from Shannon Nugent and 25 from Jenn Claussen.