Elgin's strides continue with win over Streamwood

History shows a trying four-year administration tends to age a leader prematurely.

Fourth-year Elgin girls volleyball coach Scott Stewart can relate somewhat.

Stewart was 29-years-old when he took over the struggling program. The first setter in Larkin boys volleyball history in 1998, he worked for four seasons in the Elgin girls and boys volleyball programs until 2011, when he inherited a girls varsity team that finished 3-33 in 2010.

Without the benefit of many club volleyball players - for example, there is only one club-trained player on the Elgin varsity this season - Stewart has slowly brought the Maroons back to respectability, though it has not been easy.

Elgin won 6 matches in his first season, only 2 in his second season (when he initiated a youth movement that now bears fruit) and 8 matches last fall.

Stewart's Maroons aged him a bit more than he cared for on Tuesday, when they failed to sweep Streamwood in 2 sets despite an 18-11 lead in the second - "Oh, man. I think I got about 50 gray hairs with that one," said Stewart, who has no visible gray hair - but Elgin bounced back to win the third set convincingly to complete a 25-23, 24-26, 25-15 victory at Chesbrough Field House.

The win improved the Maroons to 11-12 overall, 2-3 in the Upstate Eight River. The 11 wins are the most for Elgin girls volleyball since Dr. Nick Bumbales coached the Maroons to an 11-23 finish in 2009. It also marks the first time in Stewart's four seasons Elgin has won more than one Upstate Eight River match.

Afterward, Stewart listed the reasons for the improvement.

"I think it's the seniors, it's the teamwork, everybody gets what we're doing, we've had really good practices, our schedule has been great," he said. "Everything is kind of just clicking."

The players sense the improvement, too.

"I feel like we're stronger and we're all really close," said Elgin outside hitter Sabrina Stockman, one of 10 seniors on the 14-player roster. "We practice really hard every day so I feel like it comes out in the game."

Already down a set and trailing 18-11 in the second, Streamwood refused to fold up the tent. The Sabres (2-17, 0-5) scored 15 of the next 21 points to send the game to a decisive third set.

Senior outside hitter Lauren Schiferl (9 kills) and senior middle Taylor Wiliams (8 kills) each terminated 4 points to fuel the rally.

"They've actually played a couple of other teams where they've come back like that," Streamwood coach Sheryl Hettinger said of her team. "(It was) just drive, playing together, working hard. They wanted to win. They wanted it a lot."

Elgin senior Abby Pierre-Louis was the dominant player of the match. The hard-swinging, 5-foot-10 outside hitter consistently put Streamwood's defense on its heels, finishing with a season-best 12 kills. Pierre-Louis was instrumental in the third set, when she pounded 3 straight kills to give the Maroons a 5-1 lead.

Streamwood drew within 7-6 on an Elgin hitting error, but the Maroons went on an 8-0 run to pull away, powered by kills from junior Emma Sirridge, senior middle Megan Alexander (6 blocks, 2 kills) and Pierre-Louis and aces by senior Nikki Zimmer and junior Emily Huprich.

"We all reset our mentalities, we all reset as a team and told each other we were going to win this game," Pierre-Louis said. "It was all in our heads, honestly."

Junior libero Jessica Daley had 20 digs and junior setter Karla Jasson notched 20 assists for Streamwood.

Senior setter Tiana Palumbo finished with 17 assists and Stockman registered 5 kills and a block for Elgin.