Girls volleyball: Libertyville battles past Crystal Lake South

All Libertyville's girls volleyball team had to do after the first set of Saturday's Class 4A Fremd supersectional was look at the stat sheet to know something had to change.

The glaring stat in the Wildcats' loss in that first set was more than 10 unforced errors.

So Libertyville did something about it.

Shaking off a subpar performance in the first set, the Wildcats stormed back and captured a 17-25, 25-19, 26-24 win over Crystal Lake South, sending them downstate for the second time in the last three years.

Libertyville (34-6) will take on Loyola, an 18-25, 25-21, 25-22 winner over De La Salle Saturday in the Evanston supersectional, in the 9 p.m. state semifinal next Friday at Redbird Arena in Normal. The Wildcats will attempt to better their fourth-place state finish of 2012.

"It feels amazing," said Wildcats' senior setter Lizzie Apgar. "Going into the season we didn't know each other that well but we pushed through and it's just an ecstatic feeling right now.

With the third and decisive set tied at 24, Apgar's quick hit was blocked out of bounds, giving the Wildcats the serve and a chance at match point. With Apgar serving, CL South was called for a net violation while setting up a play, giving the Wildcats the set and match.

"We wanted that last point so badly," Apgar said.

After the Gators (32-8) dominated the first set and Libertyville did the same in the second set, the third was a classic. The teams traded points and ties through 7-7 before the Gators went ahead 9-7. But Libertyville got a kill from senior Francesca Fusco to get serve back then used another Fusco kill and three Gator errors to take a 12-9 advantage. Fusco finished with a team-high 14 kills.

"We really focused on our side of the court and where their defense was so we could maximize our opportunities," Fusco said.

The Gators didn't go away, though, and came back to eventually take a 14-13 lead. But neither team could forge more than a 2-point lead the rest of the way. The Wildcats had serve and a 24-23 lead but a kill from CLS senior standout Carly Nolan tied it again, just before the Gators blocked Apgar out of bounds to set up the Wildcats with match point.

"This feels awesome," said Libertyville coach Greg Loika. "The way it went down - each team dominating a game and then the third game point-for-point like that. That's how it should be. Hats off to Crystal Lake South. They are a heck of a team. But hats off to our team, too."

Cornell-bound Alex Basler had 10 kills and 7 blocks for the Wildcats, while Anna Lillydahl added 8 kills and Hannah Zerwas had 6 kills and 3 blocks.

"It's surreal," said Basler. "Going (to state) two years ago it felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity and now we're going again. I can't imagine a better group of girls to go downstate with."

Apgar had 34 assists and 2 kills, Morgan O'Brien 24 digs, Mikaella Faber 9 digs and Sinead Prentiss 7 digs for the Wildcats.

Nolan, who led CL South to fourth place in Class 4A last year, closed out her Gator career with 12 kills, 3 blocks and 13 digs.

"The first game we had the energy and the experience but they came out harder and stronger the second game," said the Cincinnati recruit. "It was hard to come back from silly errors and balls falling in between girls.

"Overall, volleyball has been a huge part of my life and I wouldn't have wanted to play anywhere else."

Senior setter Cassy Sivesind had 30 assists for the Gators, Kendall Kilberger added 7 kills, Tori Falbo 30 digs and Abby Marchewka 14 digs.

"It's momentum and mental," said CLS coach Jorie Fontana. "You know every team is going to come at you with everything they have. We did a great job in the first set but we needed to get more touches on the ball. Blocking is a sense of touch and control and we were missing that in the second and third sets."

Fontana paid tribute to Nolan and the rest of her seniors - Sivesind, Marchewka, Emma Burkle, Falbo and Jamie Vance.

"This whole senior class is a group we'll miss tremendously," Fontana said. "Carly brought more to the game and gave back more to us than she'll ever realize. She's someone we'll miss for a long long time and someone I'll use as a reference point for a long time."