Leyden tops Maine West in two

In a nonconference girls volleyball match on Wednesday night, Leyden posted a 25-23, 25-20 victory over Maine West.

Leading the Eagles’ attack was senior outside hitter Kelly Murphy, who put down 7 kills.

Freshman setter Autumn McGee served 14 points with 5 aces for the winners.

Maine West was led by Allison Grzebien (6 kills), Brittany Collins (5 kills), Julia Huinker (4 kills), Kassidy Riportella (3 kills, 18 assists, and Alyssa Suriano (2 blocks, 1 kill).

Magda Czerlonko and Andrea Maldonado each added a kill while Abbi Donovan (3 aces) and Janna Lopez (2 aces) were top servers for the Warriors (12-8).

West led in both games.

They pulled away 8-3 in Game 1 and it was tied at 22 and 23 before Leyden notched the win.

In Game 2, West built a 10-6 advantage on 3 kills from Grzebien and 1 apiece from Riportella, Huinker and Collins.

But two strong service runs by the Eagles gave them a 19-11 lead and they never looked back.

“We’ve won so many 2-point sets that I’m surprised we fought back and didn’t close out Game 1,” said Warriors coach Randy Tiller. “We didn’t exhibit the same focus that we had (in a Tuesday night win against Highland Park).

“Then, in the second set, two Leyden servers made a 12-point difference. They were strong and took our offense out of the rhythm that we like.”

Maine West will face Leyden again on Friday in the Glenbrook North Discovery tournament.

“We’ll try to have a better response then,” said Tiller, whose team faces Niles North today.