Girls volleyball: Glenbard South triumphant

At this point of the season, the cream of high school area volleyball has risen to the top. More often than not, there won't be dominance. There will only be small windows of opportunity to take control of a game, win the match and play another day.

Consider the Glenbard South girls squad very capable of making the most of their opportunities. The Raiders prevailed Tuesday in a slugfest of a sectional semifinal match at Montini, winning 20-25, 25-23, 25-23 over Trinity.

The fourth-seeded Raiders (23-15) return to Lombard at 6 p.m. Thursday to face second-seeded Rosary for a Class 3A sectional title. Glenbard South has not faced either team this season.

Glenbard South was facing its window of opportunity on the match closing when the eighth-seeded Blazers (20-18) led 23-21 in the third game. Raiders coach Chad Grant called a timeout.

"We just kept calm and tried to put things together. When we went into the huddle when it was 23-21, we were determined to do whatever we could," said senior Bella Bauman, who led the Raiders' attack with 13 kills.

That's exactly what happened.

Beth Kohl, who finished with 6 kills, got one of them to cut the Blazers' advantage to 23-22 and give Glenbard South the serve back.

With Claire Werner serving Trinity set a shot back into its own net to tie the game. Krista Kreshpanji's block made it 24-23, and Bauman's kill sealed the deal on the game and match.

"Both teams showed glimpses of great volleyball and both showed glimpses of where neither could do anything," Grant said. "This (Glenbard South) is a resilient bunch. We had not been playing well going into the postseason. It makes a difference if you are able to score at the end of sets. That bodes well for you."

Glenbard South jumped out to a 7-0 lead in that final game and led until two aces by Trinity gave it its first advantage of that game at 15-14.

The Blazers, of the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference, hit 6 aces in Game 1, including three during five unanswered points to take a 9-6 advantage and the team kept a grip on the lead until winning the opening contest.

The Raiders led all of Game 2, and a hitting error gave the Blazers the serve back with Glenbard South ahead 24-21. And it got dicey for the Raiders as another volleyball out of bounds, a kill by Trinity's Emma Jacobs, put the Blazers to within 24-23. Grant called a timeout and Glenbard South clinched the victory on a Trinity serve into its own net.

"We rely on our teammates. We have a great mix of freshmen through seniors. We do a great job of keeping our composure and if someone is struggling, we pick them up," said Allie Sims, who finished with 22 digs.

Werner finished with 38 assists, Kathleen Millett put through 8 kills and 14 digs and Maggie Bair had 9 kills.