Wauconda waits out Vernon Hills
Megan Tallman helped rally Wauconda’s volleyball team Wednesday night.
The Indiana-bound senior had 12 kills, 10 assists, 20 digs and 4 aces, as the Bulldogs outlasted visiting Vernon Hills 21-25, 25-16, 25-11 in North Suburban Prairie Division play.
Susan Karhoff also played well again for Wauconda (13-5, 2-2). She had 11 kills, 6 assists and 10 digs. Ashley Anderson added 24 digs and 3 aces for the Bulldogs, while LeAnne Sakowicz and Emily Holub contributed 3 kills apiece. Jordan Draegert chipped in 17 digs for the winners.
Shannon Nugent had 9 kills and 2 blocks for Vernon Hills (5-13, 2-1). Jenn Claussen and Kasey Firnbach added 5 and 4 kills, respectively. Firnbach also served 4 aces. Jasmine Tamalunas (40 of 41) dished out 9 assists, and Tori Smith (38 of 38) had seven.
“Getting closer,” Cougars coach Abbie Gutzmer said. “We had our serve-receive breakdowns in games 2 and 3 and just could not get our offense going consistently. Wauconda came back and played some great defense to win this match.”
Lakes d. North Chicago: Stephanie Reed served 25 of 25 with 8 aces, as the Eagles won 25-4, 25-0 to improve to 12-1 and 4-0 in the North Suburban Prairie.
Shannon Grant added 5 aces (8 of 8) for Lakes, while Abbey Buehler and Kim Olson each hit 6 of 6 with 3 kills. Sarah Horner contributed 2 blocks, 1 kill and 1 ace.
Lake Zurich d. Zion-Benton: Layne Self slammed 10 kills, served 3 aces and notched 7 digs for the Bears, as they won the North Suburban Lake match 25-22, 25-13.
Lake Zurich (11-6, 3-1) also received 6 kills from Sydney Glover and five apiece from Mallory Parsons and Mickenzie Andrews. Ashley Dina and Kiley McPeek had 17 and 14 digs, respectively, and Nicole Morrissey contributed 21 assists and 4 kills. Kristen Walding also had 4 kills.
Antioch d. Grant: Amanda Spera’s 10 kills and 6 blocks led the Sequoits to a 25-21, 26-28, 25-20 win in a North Suburban Prairie thriller.
Elena Kelsh had 7 kills and 17 digs for Antioch (8-5), while Sam Falco posted 6 kills and 3 blocks. Call-up Hannah Skoog totaled 9 digs and served 14 of 14 with an ace. Abby McIlhany had 3 kills and 3 aces, and Madeline Johnson also put down 3 kills Marissa Grant lofted 24 assists and also delivered 4 kills and 2 aces.
“A good conference win for the Sequoits against a scrappy Grant team,” Antioch coach Glen Heitman said. “We blocked and served well, and we passed much better, allowing us to play in system more than past matches.”
Grant got 13 kills from Brooke Buckley and eight from Alyssa Wilhelm. Mallory Gizowski was effective both at the net (5 kills) and service line (14 of 15, 2 aces). Taylor Rossi set 43 of 44 with 17 assists, and Gianna Gigliotti led the Bulldog defense with 18 digs. Anna Panasenko served 3 aces.