Girls volleyball: Hersey tops Libertyville in powerful matchup

Two volleyball powers - one from Cook County and one from Lake County - were matched up on Wednesday in a battle of teams ranked in the Daily Herald's top 10.

The nonconference matchup in Arlington Heights lived up to its billing as it took three sets to determine the outcome at Ken Carter Gymnasium.

Thanks to a little more power at the end, Hersey pulled out a 25-22, 19-25, 25-19 nonconference triumph over visiting Libertyville for its second straight win to start the season.

Libertyville, most recently a runner-up to Stevenson in the Lake County Invite, now stands at 7-2.

"We're still working out the kinks," said Libertyville coach Greg Loika. "Hersey played well at the end of the third set and that was the difference."

Making a big difference in the third set was Hersey's 5-foot-10 senior Mary Claire O'Shea, who put down for down 5 of her 8 kills from 13-of-13 hitting.

"Claire came up huge in that third set," said Hersey coach Nancy Lill, who won career match No. 894. "She caught fire and it was just a matter of getting the ball where she needed it. Maggie (Reisel) did great job at that."

Reisel, the Huskies' senior floor leader, was 79-of-80 with 31 assists while using more than a handful of attackers, including junior Amy Morgan who put down a match-high 10 kills.

O'Shea's clutch attack in Set 3 saw her put down a perfect tip that gave Hersey its biggest lead at 17-10 and forced Loika to call time out.

O'Shea came back with kills that made it 18-13 and 19-14 before the Wildcats closed to within 19-16 on a service point from junior Morgan DeGregor.

But that's as close as the visitors would get.

Freshman Kati Kaburov made a nice save to sail the over the net and it resulted in a hitting error by Libertyville padding the Huskies' cushion to 22-16.

The Wildcats could get no closer than 23-19 before a kill by Morgan off a Reisel set made it 24-19.

Senior Zoe Strozewski then finished off things off when she made a block that came right back to her and she turned it into the match-winning kill.

"We just started putting down more balls and playing with a ton of energy at the end," said Strozewski, whose sister Emma, a junior, also had a big assist and block in the match. "They were definitely a tall team and in the first set I had trouble getting the ball through the block. But in the second set, I started pushing it away from their block and that helped a lot."

"Hersey started tipping around the block and that was the difference," Loika said. "I thought Caroline (Frea) for us had her best offensive match (6 kills). She can hit above almost anyone.

"And Morgan (O'Brien, the Wildcats' setter who had 20 digs) is an all-stater for a reason."

As usual, O'Brien was all over the floor picking up rockets from Hersey hitters.

She even started Set 1 with a save that went over the net for a kill. Neither team led by more than 4 points in Set 1 (Libertyville was up 11-7 and 14-10).

Hersey took the lead for good at 21-20 on a service point from senior Erin Redding (1 ace). Morgan's service point off a block from Zoe Strozewski made it 25-22.

In Set 2, the Wildcats got a tip from Frea and a kill from junior middle blocker Anna Valente (10 kills) to surge ahead 20-15. They wrapped it up at 25-19 on a kill from Madison O'Brien.

Hersey never trailed in Set 3, building a 10-4 lead with a back row kill from Liz Solans, who had 13 digs, second only to senior libero Emma Frankiewicz' 23.

Kaburov also had 13 digs followed by Morgan (9) and Reisel (4).

"She's (Kaburov) is a great player," said Frankiewicz, who like Kaburov is a Thomas Middle School alum. "Even though she is a freshman, she plays like an upperclassman.

"Libertyville is a great team., We just stuck to the basics and were able to get the win."

"It really was a nice team effort," Lill said. "It was done by committee."

The attack committee for Hersey also included Sammi Steger (6 kills), Kaburov (6), Zoe Strozewski (5), Reisel (10 and Solans (1).

Libertyville received 28 assists from setter Anna Lillydahl while senior middle Haley Stevenson had 6 blocks.

"We knew Libertyville was a good team," Lill said. "They have a great libero (Morgan O'Brien) who's going to the University of Illinois. Our game plan was to keep the ball away from her and we weren't doing that in Set 2. Their setter (Lillydahl) is exceptional and they have good hitters They're a good team.

"This was a good win for us. It was our second match and we hadn't played in nine days. We needed to get out on the court and be challenged."