Girls volleyball: Like a good friend, Freund has Fremd's back

Prior to Tuesday's match, Fremd veteran girls volleyball coach Curt Pinley congratulated retiring Schaumburg girls coach Jeanette Pancratz on all of her years dedicated to the sport.

After the MId-Suburban West match, he was able to congratulate his players on a strong comeback in a 19-25, 25-14, 25-14 triumph over the visiting Saxons in Palatine.

"Jeanette is that coach who others look up to and who young women, when they see her dedication for a lifetime, are inspired by her. I could not let her come into this gym and without recognizing that," said Pinley, who presented Pancratz with flowers following a short speech.

Then Pinley watched Pancratz's girls play an inspired first set, as they raced to an 8-1 lead and never looked back in a 25-19 win.

But Fremd then looked to 5-foot-6 senior Natalie Freund, who helped the Vikings charge back with wins in the next two sets.

She handed out 38 assists, many coming off her crafty back set.

"Fremd did a great job running its offense and moving the ball," Pancratz said. "They executed their game plan. Kudos to them."

A lot of that offensive execution involved Freund.

"She is a captain and very much a team leader," Pinley said. "And that is nice to have from a setter.

"We have been working real hard to speed up our offense and Natalie accepted that role and has done a great job with it."

Freund is a friend to all her hitters, distributing the ball quite evenly on Tuesday. Bailey Hooker led Fremd (6-4, 2-0) with 9 kills while Ysabel Lee and Sara Ganas each had 7.

Hooker put down a kill off Freund's back set for a huge 19-8 cushion in Set 2.

Freund helped get the Vikings off to a fast start in Set 3 when she set classmate Kailyn Bryk for a kill and quick 1-0 lead.

After a tip by Lee and ace by Ganas, Freund executed another perfect back set when she quickly ran under the pass, planted her feet, and provided Hooker with a kill for a 4-0 lead.

"Those are my favorite," Freund said of her back sets. "It just feels easier for me when I get the perfect pass to push the set backward."

Leading with the passes were Ganas with 14 digs, Karolina Sas (12) and Hooker (11).

Sas was also 15-of-15 serve receiving while Rebecca Uhrich was 4-of-5 and Hooker 6-of-7. Jess Mazur, Sas and Hooker each had an ace for the Vikes.

Fremd stretched its lead to 9-3 in Set 3 with back-to-bac s blocks overpasses by Mazur and Hooker.

Freund's service run of 5 straight points made it 22-10 and the Vikes got the match winner on an ace by Sas.

Junior Morgan Sterrett led Schaumburg (4-6, 0-2) with 7 kills, followed by Mallory Gerber (6), Julia Spitelli (5) and Dana Kiszlowski (4). Jordyn Harberts handed out 23 assists while Gabby Paelmo collected 20 digs.

"In the first set, no one was talking and we were all down," Freund said. "But in the second and third sets we didn't get down on ourselves if we did make a mistake and we kept cheering for each other."

The Vikes come right back with a key conference match at Barrington today."

"We've got to come back just as strong," Freund said.

"I thought Schaumburg did a really good job in Set 1," Pinley said. "But we answered the bell in the next two sets and that's a good lesson for us."