Girls volleyball: Schaumburg finishes off big week
Talk about making an entrance into the Mid-Suburban League girls volleyball circles.
First-year Schaumburg girls volleyball coach Tim Murphy watched his Saxons top the defending West champion Fremd 25-23, 25-17 in Thursday's conference opener just two days after a 13-25, 25-22, 25-22 triumph over defending East champion Hersey.
Once again, Saxons senior Morgan Sterrett lit things up at the net, collecting a match-high 11 kills after putting away 20 against Hersey.
"After our win over Hersey, Murph (Tim Murphy) said to seize the opportunity to beat the other defending champion," said Sterrett who also had 9 digs and 4 blocks. "This was pretty good. We were nervous coming in but we shook it off during the match."
"Morgan played fantastic again," Murphy said. "She was a beast out there."
Set 1 was tied eight times before Sterrett took a set from junior Michelle Candotti (14 assists) and got it down off a blocker's hand for a kill and 23-22 lead.
Candotti's ace made it 24-22 before senior Jess Rizzo's kill got Fremd (3-5, 0-1) to within 24-23.
Sterrett gathered up the next serve receive, passing the ball to Candotti, who set classmate Ari Doroskin for the set-winning kill.
"Murph is coaching us for pressure moments," Sterrett added. "He is really drilling that into us at practices. And I owe a lot to my teammates. Everyone is doing a great job picking things up in tough moments. We are just playing as a unit."
Set 2 started out close, too, before the Saxons took control behind the serve of senior libero Gabby Paelmo.
A tip from the back row by defensive specialist Emily Gniadek gave the hosts a 16-13 lead and brought Paelmo to the service line.
She served the Saxons to a 19-13 advantage, thanks to Sterrett blocking an overpass, a Fremd hitting error and another kill by Sterrett off a long set from Candotti.
Paelmo finished 7-of-8 serving with 11 digs.
"Coach has been stressing pressure serving and pressure play in general," Paelmo said. "He want us to make sure we are smart and aggressive in tight games. He stressed to us that it's not how you start but how you finish."
The Saxons (5-4, 1-0) finished the third week of the season with plenty of confidence.
"That's a big week for us," said Murphy, a former head boys volleyball coach at his alma mater Lake Park and Addison Trail. "I was talking to my junior varsity team (lost to Fremd two sets) after our match and telling them the team that makes less errors is going to win games.
"A lot of this game comes down to staying aggressive and avoiding hitting errors. That's what our varsity girls did tonight."
Junior Natalie Asa added 3 kills for the hosts and senior Dana Kiszkowski had 2. Doroskin collected 5 blocks and an ace.
"We've just had really good practices," Paelmo added about the Saxons' big week. "We know we are a young team, we are 'junior' heavy. There is a lot to learn but we're really picking it up. We have high expectations for this season."
Rizzo (7 kills), Heidi Sayre (6 kills, 6 dogs) and Jess Mazur (5 kills, 2 aces) led the Vikings' attack set by senior Sarah Straup (19 assists).
Rizzo was 15-of-17 serve receiving while Straup, Sayre and Peyton Hooker each had a block.
"I think Schaumburg has nice energy and a real nice team," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley. "They kept us off balance most of the night by keeping balls in play and making us have to pick everything up. And that's what good teams are going to do."
But the veteran coach also pointed out his team committed a fair amount of unforced errors which obviously made things tougher.
"That has been a problem late in our games,"Pinley added. "We had 6 unforced errors in Set 1. We're still a little young in varsity experience. I think once that experience comes, we'll be in a pretty good place. For right now, unforced errors is the big issue we have to work to gain team chemistry and the confidence that you can finish."