Prentiss powers Libertyville past Mundelein
It seems like Libertyville senior Rhiannon Prentiss has the best of both worlds in her sport of volleyball.
In club, she plays nothing but defense as a libero.
But come high school season, she moves outside and gets a chance to play offense.
On Tuesday night in the historic Waukegan gym, Prentiss took her turn serving against Mundelein. Her Wildcats were up in the first set 20-13 at the time. She never left the serving line until the set was over, and she made sure her Wildcats would prevail by registering a pair of kills.
Libertyville (26-10) continued to play winning volleyball with an impressive 25-13, 25-17 victory over Mundelein in a regional semifinal match.
“Everything clicked tonight,’’ Prentiss said. “We’ve been working on our blocking and hitting to our zones.”
These same teams met in the finals of the Crosstown Classic held over the weekend; Libertyville went three sets to stop the Mustangs in that championship match. Libertyville’s middle hitter, Alex Basler, knew her club had to be ready for the Mustangs.
“They did a good job when we saw them over the weekend,’’ Basler said. “They have really improved a lot. But we came out with a lot of confidence tonight.”
The Mustangs (18-19) played better in the second set. Spurring them on was senior Sarah Bregenzer, who served a pair of aces to pull her team within 10-8.
“We gave it our best effort,’’ said Mundelein coach George Dressen. “Sarah put some points together for us. But Libertyville plays a quick offense and we had some offensive errors.”
A Prentiss kill restored the second set Libertyville lead to 18-13.
“Everyone on this team is super dedicated,’’ Prentiss said. “We work together well and get along well, too.”
Libertyville coach Greg Loika had a game plan in mind when he arrived at the Waukegan gym.
“We wanted to serve them tough,’’ Loika said. “We knew that they have Madi Wilcox, who is a fantastic setter who runs such a smooth offense.”
Loika also applauded his own setters, Lizzie Apgar and Cassie Ostmeyer.
“They both distributed the ball very well,’’ he said.
The Wildcats, who will play Glenbrook North in the regional title game Thursday, had 7 kills from Basler and 6 kills each from Prentiss and Kate Jarecki.
“This is an excellent time to be playing well,’’ Loika said. “Everybody’s healthy now. We had such a tough early season schedule. Now we are playing really well.”
Freshman Morgan O’Brien and Prentiss both shared top honors on the team with 14 digs. Apgar had 15 assists for the Wildcats while Ostmeyer added 8 assists.
Jarecki and Basler each had 3 blocks.
Like the Wildcats, the Mustangs closed their season strongly.
“We were 6-3 in our last nine matches,’’ Dressen said. “And we went three sets in 14 matches. So we were knocking on the door an awful lot.”
Wilcox closed her impressive four-year career at Mundelein with 13 assists. Bregenzer led the Mustangs with 6 kills, and libero Cindy Kokoszka led the defense with 10 digs.