Palatine's start, finish sink Lake Zurich

Two teams with a combined 3 losses in 21 matches played up to their lofty records in Monday's nonconference girls volleyball match in Palatine.

The host Pirates' strong start and finish was enough to post an exciting 26-24, 24-26, 25-19 victory over Lake Zurich.

Palatine (9-2) built a 20-9 lead in Set 1 before finally clinching it on senior Claire Chaplinsky's block.

The Bears (10-2) used their momentum to take a 6-0 lead in Set 2 and then pulled out a 2-point win on a service point by junior setter Kylie Dykgraaf.

Lake Zurich led early in Set 3 before the Pirates put together a strong finish, sparked by a block from Brooke Bauer (3 kills) which gave the hosts the lead for good at 15-14. Chaplinsky followed with a kill for a 16-14 lead.

After a Lake Zurich side out made it 16-15, the Pirates scored 3 straight points capped by an ace by senior libero Alyssa Kronberg (16 digs, 3 aces).

"To me, that block by Brooke was a turning point," said Pirates coach Dan Gavin. "That kind of play turned things around for us."

The defending Mid-Suburban League West champs never lost the momentum following Bauer's block.

A kill by Lexi Gora got the Bears to within 21-18 but the Pirates responded with a kill from junior Beverly Ryan followed by a Lake Zurich error to make it 23-18.

Following a Lake Zurich time out, Chaplinsky (6 kills, 8 digs) served a clutch ace which got Palatine to match point and moments later it was senior Sydney Christiansen setting sophomore outside hitter Haley Holz (10 kills) for the match-winning kill.

"It was just nice to be able to (serve an ace for match point) because we were having trouble putting things away at the end of sets," Chaplinsky said. "It was nice to take a little pressure off at the end."

"We finally got into a little rhythm at the end," said Gavin, who also got aces from Corey Rinella and Holz. "We kind of book-ended things. We had some good rhythm at the start of the match, too.

"In the middle, Lake Zurich did a nice job scrapping and picking up balls. And their outside hitters are obviously very talented."

Gora and Hannah Sweetwood led the visitors with 8 kills apiece while Kelly Bush (16 assists) and Dykgraaf (10 assists) handled the setting duties.

"It was a fun match," Dykgraaf said. "Being down by so much in that first set, it was thrilling to know we can come back. It wasn't the way we wanted to start the match, but it was nice to finish the set like that."

Sweetwood also had 10 digs while Gora had 8.

"Kylie (Dykgraaf) is great for morale and spirit," said Bears coach Rachel Wiatrowski, whose team's only other loss was to the Peggy Scholten Classic champion St. Charles East. "Lexi (Gora) kept us together with her serve receiving and finding shots on the floor and McKenna Zobel had some key blocks."

The Bears encountered a key loss when sophomore Cameron Baldaccini had to leave the match midway through Set 2. Wiatrowski said the right side hitter suffered an ankle injury and was unsure of the extent of the injury.

"Palatine had a lot of topspin servers, and that is something we have not seen a lot of," Wiatrowski added. "It took us a while to make adjustments."

Despite trailing 6-0, Palatine was able to adjust in Set 2 and came back to gain the lead when Beverly Ryan (6 kills) blocked an attack, and it came right back at her as an overpass. The 6-foot middle blocker killed it to the floor for a 16-15 lead. Christiansen (27 assists), then decided to attack off a pass, and put down a beautiful shot to the open floor for a 17-15 lead. Christiansen went right back to work on the next rally, coming up with a fist save on her knees for a kill and 18-15 lead.

The set ended up being tied at on every point from 21 t 24 before Lake Zurich wrapped it up.

"The first set made us realize we had to work harder," Ryan said. "We were not really using out talent and their No. 11 (Gora) was hitting from the back row and we had to make changes for that. We also had to focus more on the court."

The Pirates' focus goes back on Mid-Suburban West play, as they visit Schaumburg on Tuesday.

"Lake Zurich is an outstanding team," Gavin said. "They are well coached and hopefully their right side hitter (Baldaccini) is OK."