Tough early tests benefit Palatine against Schaumburg

Palatine girls volleyball coach Dan Gavin calls this season's team a "special group."

"They are worried more about the end goal," he said, "and not so much who gets the get the credit."

After Tuesday's 25-20, 17-25, 25-19 Mid-Suburban West triumph over visiting Schaumburg, guess who the Pirates were giving the credit to?

How about Naperville North and Wheaton St. Francis?

"Playing in that Peggy Scholten (Volleyball Classic) really helped us," said Pirates junior setter Sydney Christiansen, who as usual helped her teammates with a match-high 29 assists. "When we played (state power) Wheaton St. Francis (25-14, 25-13 loss), it gave us an understanding of how to play at a faster tempo. It made us quicker and more fast-paced pace. Those early matches really helped us."

Naperville North topped the Pirates 25-12, 25-18 in the season opener.

"That was probably our toughest match of the season," Gavin said. "It forced us to find an identity and to look a different way, and that's why we scheduled that match."

Tuesday's match saw the Pirates (7-2, 2-0) trail 9-5 when Schaumburg's Julia Spitelli put down one of her 3 kills.

But moments later, Christiansen turned the momentum with her serve.

Her back-to-back aces tied the set and then she assisted on a kill by junior Claire Chaplinsky (match-high 11 kills) that made it 10-9.

The set was tied at 13 when Schaumburg pulled away for good on back-to-back kills by freshman Haley Holz, who had 4 kills for the match.

Schaumburg (5-5, 1-1) was up to task in Set 2, pulling ahead 10-4 on 5 straight service points by senior Lexi Ross.

Leading 22-17, the Saxons wrapped up the set on a kill by senior Abbie Rahn (team-high 7 kills), an ace down the line by senior Christina Candotti and Ross' block of an overpass.

"When we went to the huddle after that set, we all talked it over," Christiansen said. "We knew we had played well, we knew we were doing what we needed to do. We just had to have more energy. When we play with energy, we are a faster-paced team and more aggressive."

The refocused energy paid off as the Pirates were able to surge ahead 6-1, getting 4 straight service points, including an ace, from senior defensive specialist Alexis Serna.

Schaumburg never got closer than 3 the rest of the match.

Chaplinsky blocked an overpass to make it 9-2.

A service point by Alyssa Kronberg (13 digs) boosted the Pirates' lead to 15-8 before Schaumburg made a big run behind Candotti's serve.

Candotti's serve started with Rahn blocking a pass off her own kill (15-9).

One of Morgan Sterrett's 3 kills and another by Rahn made it 15-12 but that's as close as the visitors would get.

Palatine extended the advantage 20-13 with successive kills by Haley Holz, Ally Foltman (from back row) and Chaplinsky.

The Pirates ended it at 25-19 when Christiansen lofted a set to the sliding Sarah Udoni, who put it down for the match winner.

"Sarah had a nice match," Gavin said after the senior middle blocker put down 4 kills and had 2 blocks.

"We focus a lot on trying to get the middles (Udoni and Heather Holz who had 8 kills) the ball," Christiansen said. "But all our hitters are strong so when we get more people involved we are even better. I try to spread it around as much as I can."

The Saxons' middle hitters made their presence felt, too.

Spitelli and Ross each had 3 kills and 5 and 4 blocks, respectively.

Jessica Hartzman led the Saxons with 3 aces and Laura LaVigne was tops in digs (12).

"There was a battle of the middles," said Schaumburg coach Jeanette Pancratz who is missing senior middle hitter Katherine Coombs on the floor (sprained ankle suffered at the Peggy Scholten). "I thought our middles did a good job. We just need to stay focused on the moment and disciplined on defense.

"Palatine attacked our weaknesses. They did a great job taking the ball to us in the third set and staying aggressively offensively."

"When we play at the tempo we need and focus on the movement and floor balance that we want, we can be a really good team," Gavin said. "Schaumburg is a very solid team. They are well-disciplined and execute their game plan."