Warren takes control against Mundelein
In each of the three sets in Wednesday's girls volleyball matchup between Mundelein and host Warren, decisive outcomes allowed for the opportunity to get familiar with the rosters, and players such as Maddie Walczak.
Yes, she is the younger sister of Warren outside hitter Jenna Walczak. Jenna is a good 5 inches taller than her junior sister, but that doesn't stop Maddie from trying to hit just like Jenna.
Maddie, however, is Warren's libero.
"I like hitting,'' Maddie Walczak said. "I hit for my Net Force 17 team. My sister took all of the height, but I like playing libero."
There is really no logical way to explain the unbalanced nature of the Mundelein-Warren matchup on this night.
The Mustangs (5-13) stormed the home team with a quick 12-4 start and went on to a 25-20 first-set victory.
"We executed the game plan,'' said Mundelein coach George Dressen. "We had a great practice the day before. And we played with a lot of confidence. We played great defense in that set."
It was all Warren after that. The Blue Devils had great games from the Walczak sisters and middle hitter Claire Lundtveit, and ended up overwhelming the Mustangs 20-25, 25-18, 25-9.
"We played a different rotation in that set,'' Walczak said. "And once we clicked, we really took over."
Warren coach Julie Filippo is pleased to see how the younger Walczak is developing.
"She has that Walczak snap when she hits the ball,'' Filippo said. "I'm glad Maddie is stepping up. She needs to play like this."
During Mundelein's impressive start, the Mustangs rang up 7 straight points with Sidney Brunkow serving. Senior Elizabeth Ramer had a pair of kills during the run.
"Sidney plays club and she's our junior captain,'' Dressen said. "She's leading our team in about every category."
Basically the same thing happened in set two, only this time it was Warren (7-7) charging ahead. Peyton Clark was at the serving line when the tandem of Jenna Walczak and Lundtveit dominated at the net. Both had 2 kills as the Blue Devils opened up a quick 10-3 lead. Mundelein had an early block kill from Monika Bowser, but that was about the extent of the Mustangs' offense.
As one-sided as set two was, set three was even more firmly in favor of the Blue Devils.
By the time, Nicole Berzin, Maddie Walczak and Clark were done serving, it was already 16-5 Warren. Jenna Walczak had 4 kills during this dominant run, and her sister had 1.
Tess Pribyi served an ace for the Mustangs but there was no stopping Warren.
Lundtveit finished with 10 digs and 9 kills for Warren. Maddie Walczak notched 7 digs from her libero spot, and Jenna Walczak had 11 digs.
Three Mustangs had 4 kills each - Brunkow, Bowser and Amanda Bogseth.