Girls volleyball: Lundtveit, Warren courting excellence

Come winter, Dana Lundtveit will turn her interest to basketball. For now, she's concentrating on one of her favorite sports.

That is volleyball. The Warren junior can clearly put the ball away.

"Dana dominated the net tonight," Warren coach Julie Filippo said Wednesday night after her host Blue Devils outlasted Libertyville 21-25, 25-22, 25-19 in a North Suburban Conference opener in Gurnee.

Lundtveit, a junior, has put the time in to become a better volleyball player.

"I started playing when I was about 10 or 11 years old," Lundtveit said. "It was with the Wisconsin Juniors. Now, I'm with Net Force. Volleyball has a lot of exciting plays. It is a fast-paced game."

Filippo noted Libertyville and Warren are two clubs battling injuries.

"And we are both young," she added.

Libertyville still may have an edge in the youth department. The Wildcats (3-7) have an impressive freshman setter in Peyton O'Brien and another freshman outside in Kellie Hopper.

Warren (9-5) rallied behind Lundtveit's strong play and stopped the Wildcats

"It was frustrating losing that first set," Lundtveit said. "But we knew if we could play together, we could come back."

All three sets remained close throughout. Libertyville trailed 17-15 in the opening set, but kills from Amanda Reinhart and O'Brien set the Wildcats up. Two straight aces from Jenn Formica and another Reinart kill ended the first set in Libertyville's favor.

"This match was very much playofflike," Libertyville coach Greg Loika said. "The crowd tonight was so loud."

Both teams had cheering sections filled with students.

"We would spend a lot of energy trying to rally," Loika said. "Warren played a great game."

The second set was knotted at 15-15. Then with Abby Berkowitz at the serving line, Warren went on a run. Ora Cohen and Jessica Weinberg combined on one block, Lundtveit notched another, and the Blue Devils were up 20-16.

The young Wildcats didn't quit. O'Brien had back-to-back kills as Libertyville pulled within 24-21.

"She's 14-years-old," Loika said of O'Brien. "Good for her. She's really a setter in training."

Libertyville had one lead in the third set. Madison O'Brien and Reinhart had kills as the Wildcats opened up a 4-3 lead. Hannah Barbosa went in to serve for Warren and three aces later, the host team starting to pull away. The Warren lead was a crisp one at 15-8. Still, Libertyville did not quit. With Hopper at the line, 2 aces and 2 kills from sophomore Hope Moody helped get Libertyville back in the game.

Lundtveit had 3 kills down the stretch as the Warren and led all players with 11 kills. Cohen added 6 kills for Warren. Allison Man de Kok had 14 assists, and Berkowitz added 11. Berkowitz had 22 digs.

Libertyville had a great blocking effort from Reinhart (12 blocks). Senior libero Morgan DeGregor notched 28 digs, and the freshman O'Brien had 24 assists and 3 kills.