Girls volleyball: Rahn deals a winning hand for Schaumburg

No. 11 Schaumburg passed its first test at the Class 4A Hersey girls volleyball regional on Tuesday night.

In the case of Saxons senior outside hitter Abbie Rahn, you could say she aced the exam.

Rahn stepped to the service line with her team leading No. 6 Maine South 16-7 in Set 2. She never left it until her team had wrapped up a 25-17, 25-7 victory over the Hawks (19-15).

The Saxons (22-14) will meet host Hersey (26-9) for the championship on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Rahn's impressive match-ending service run of 9 points included 5 aces, including the 25th point.

Rahn, who was 16-of-16 serving with 6 aces, also found time to lead the Saxons with 6 kills while collecting 6 digs.

"I have a lot of great coaches who tell me where to serve the ball," Rahn said of her big night at the line. "That plays a big role. Without them, I would not have got those aces."

Next year, she hopes to ace exams at Union University. Rahn committed on Sunday to play volleyball at the D-II school in Jackson, Tenn.

"She was killing those serves," said senior teammate Lexi Ross (2 kills), who showed superb court awareness when she took a set from Christina Candotti and swiped it perfectly to the far corner where no Hawks defenders could get close to give Schaumburg a 24-7 lead during Rahn's serve.

"Abbie was on fire," Ross added. "And our whole team was on fire."

Other major contributors to the Saxons' attack were Mallory Gerber (4 kills) and Morgan Sterrett (2). Candotti and Jordyn Harberts each had 7 assists while Lauren Lavigne collected 7 digs.

Saxons junior middle blocker Julia Spitelli also proved to be a major factor at the net, collecting a team-high 3 blocks kills while Candotti had 2.

"The girls did a great job staying aggressive throughout the match, with both serving and defense," said Saxons coach Jeanette Pancratz. "I couldn't be more proud. Maine South is a solid program year after year so it's a great win for our program."