Girls volleyball: Palatine regroups in time for victory against Hersey

After finishing 3-2 at the Peggy Scholten Volleyball Classic over the weekend, Palatine's girls volleyball team knew there was work to be done.

And there wasn't a lot of time to do it with a date against defending Mid-Suburban League champion Hersey on tap.

"We were not playing as a team at that tournament," said Pirates senior libero Alyssa Kronberg, a University of Memphis recruit. "We went to practice on Monday and learned to play as a team. One practice taught us a lot."

Back-to-back blocks by junior Beverly Ryan-Darrah provided the defending MSL West champs with the final 2 points in a 25-21, 25-22 triumph over Hersey, which defeated the Pirates in last year's MSL title match.

"We had a lot of energy because of that loss to Hersey last year," said Ryan-Darrah, a 6-foot middle blocker who collected 3 kills and 3 blocks. "We were all just focused on playing as a team."

That's exactly what coach Dan Gavin was hoping would happen following Monday's practice.

"At the very least, this was a step in the right direction," said Gavin, whose club (5-2) was led by senior Carrie Chaplinsky's match-high 9 kills as she took her cue from senior setter Sydney Christiansen.

"We really stressed on Monday that most of the time we had not been functioning as a 'team,' " Gavin said. "We told the girls they needed to adjust that, and they bought into it."

Both sets were close all the way. The Pirates' biggest lead in Set 1 came when they broke a 16-16 tie with 6 consecutive points, including an ace by Corey Rinella, kills from Kronberg and Brooke Bauer, and 3 errors by Hersey.

"We gave it away, we had tons of errors," said Hersey coach Nancy Lill. "It was a lack of defense. Palatine played well and we were very erratic."

Sophomore Haley Holz's kill from Christiansen's 15-foot set in the front row gave the hosts a 23-18 lead when Lill called for a timeout.

The Huskies came back with a kill from Zoe Strozewski off a set from Maggie Reisel to get to within 23-19. A kill by Mary Clare O'Shea made it 23-21 and the Huskies got to 23-21 on another service point from sophomore Alesia Olhava.

But the Pirates got the next 2 points, including the match winner on an ace from Kronberg.

"The key was communication," Kronberg said. "We played with energy and we talked with each other on the floor."

Neither team led by more than 2 points in Set 2 until a hitting error by Palatine and ace by Emma Frankiewicz gave Hersey an 18-14 lead.

The Huskies led 20-14 on a kill by freshman Kati Kaburov.

However, Palatine charged back to score 11 of the next 13 points for the two-set win.

Ryan-Darrah and Rinella teamed up for a block which tied the set at 22-22. Chaplinsky's kill made it 23-22 before Ryan-Darrah's two big blocks.

"I thought Beverly had a real nice match," Gavin said. "She was available a lot on offense so even when Sydney didn't find her, she was a threat to their defense. Brooke (Bauer) and Beverly both made some nice adjustments with their blocking.

"This was definitely a nice team win. It is something to build on for sure, but is by no means the finished product."

Strozewski finished with 5 kills for Hersey (5-3), followed by Kaburov (4), Sammi Steger (3), Olhava (3) and O'Shea (2).

Olhava also had was 5-of-5 serving with an ace and she had 4 digs and 1 block.

"I thought Alesia came in, and even without practicing much with us (primarily been with the junior varsity team), really stepped up which was outstanding. She is a setter and a hitter and I am excited about her future."

Hersey and Palatine begin MSL East and West play on Thursday.

"Palatine wanted this match more than us," Lill said. "We came in nonchalant. We just didn't play our game. We play strong defense and we didn't tonight. I hope we get to see Palatine again but we have to clean up our game."

"I thought we did a nice job keeping our composure," Gavin said. "And we did a nice job scratching away at the end. We really won the match defensively."