Barrington pulls away late at Schaumburg

Game 3 on Tuesday night between Mid-Suburban League West girls volleyball powers Barrington and Schaumburg was resembling the first two games.

It was close.

The host Saxons and Fillies were tied at 11-11.

But that’s when Barrington seemed to shift into a new gear.

A kill by senior Emily Watkins and block by classmate Maggie Daleen gave the visitors a 14-11 advantage as they scored 14 of the final 18 points to drive away to a 23-25, 25-21, 25-15 victory and remain undefeated in the conference at 3-0 (4-8 overall).

“We just really got the momentum there,” said Fillies senior outside hitter Christy Roney, who put down a match-high 13 kills. “We were playing well. We didn’t let anything drop and we played real aggressively.”

The Game 3 lead grew to 18-13 when Roney scored a kill off a pass.

A tip by Watkins (7 kills) made it 22-13 before Schaumburg (10-6, 2-1) got a point on a kill by Kiana Lewis, who put down 11 kills in the match.

“We have been going to three games so many times that I think we just assumed we would win it, no matter what,” said Lewis, who was also 14-of-14 serving and 8-of-8 passing. “We’ve got to realize the other team is not going to roll over and give us the match.”

Oyinkan Akinola’s block of an overpass hit the floor to make it 22-15 before Fillies setter Claire Waliczek found Roney for her 13th kill and 23-15 lead.

A kill by Sarah Berggren and hitting error ended the match.

“It was exciting,” said Waliczek, who dished out 21 assists with 4 blocks. “We really came together as a team. Everyone had a lot of energy at the end which helped put us over the top.

“We were all connecting well,” she added. “Even when someone messed up, we were there to pick them and up and we had a lot of nice runs.”

One nice run came in Game 1 when the Fillies climbed back from an 8-4 deficit and got their first lead at 11-10 on Roney’s kill.

Neither team led by more than 3 points the rest of the game.

Schaumburg tied it at 20 when Lewis put down a kill off a 15-foot set from Jada Blackwell.

The game was tied three more times before the Saxons got the final 2 points on a kill by Abbie Rahn and block by Akinola.

The Fillies made their big move in Game 2.

After a tip kill by Watkins, Emily Casaletto stepped to the service line and reeled off 4 points, including 2 aces, to extend the lead to 13-6.

Schaumburg charged back to within 23-21 before the Fillies won it on a kill by Roney and ace by Waliczek.

Casaletto led the Fillies back row with 19 digs followed by Roney (12) and Olivia Hagan (11).

Berggren and Daleen (4 kills) were strong in the middle with 3 and 2 blocks, respectively.

“Sarah and Maggie had real nice matches in the middle,” said Barrington coach Rob Ridenour “Sarah did a lot of things well to funnel the ball to our defense.

“A lot of girls did a lot of things right. It was a consummate team effort. The girls played their hearts out in games 2 and 3, which was great to see.”

Akinola finished with 6 kills and 3 blocks for the Saxons while Rahn added 5 kills. Blackwell handed out 16 assists and Megan Hayes 4. Sarah Stuehm collected 14 digs in the back row.

“Defense wins games,” said Schaumburg coach Jeanette Pancratz. “Obviously, you always need serve and serve receive. We need to continue to work to be stellar in those areas.”