Girls volleyball: Murphy's Saxons perfect in MSL West
The new kid on the block has his team in first place in the Mid-Suburban West.
Schaumburg first-year coach Tim Murphy, a former head boys volleyball coach at Lake Park and Addison Trail, watched his Saxons girls raise their record to 3-0 in the West with a tense 25-23, 28-26 victory over visiting Palatine on Thursday night.
Leading the attack for Schaumburg (7-4, 3-0) were Morgan Sterrett (11 kills, 13 digs), Dana Kiszkowski (7 kills, 1 block), Maia Gibbs (5 kills, 3 blocks) and Ari Doroskin (3 kills)
Junior Michelle Candotti directed the attack with 18 assists and a block while Gabby Paelmo (14 digs) and Emily Gniadek (10 digs, 1 ace) helped spark the Saxons' back row against the Pirates (6-4, 1-2).
Fremd d. Hoffman Estates: Host Fremd improved to 6-5 and 2-1 in the MSL West with a 25-13, 25-14 triumph as Heidi Sayre (5 kills), Jess Mazur (5 kills) and Peyton Hooker (3) led the attack set by Sarah Straup (8 assists).
Maddie Aichinger served 5 aces followed by Jess Rizzo (3) and Sayre (1). Jules Tangney and Mazur each had a block.
Kathleen Gueco 3 had kills and 2 assists for the Hawks (0-9, 0-3), who received 10 digs from Ashley Poland.
Rolling Meadows d. Wheeling: Eleanor Errico (8 kills), Natalie Klancnik (6) Leticia Avellaneda (5), Natalie Anderson (4) and Elise Kowalski (4) led a balanced attack for the host Mustangs (7-10, 2-1) in a 25-22, 25-23 MSL East win.
Macie Robinson was 11-of-11 serving with 2 aces and she also had 9 digs for the Mustangs, one behind teammate Anderson (10).
Klancnik (14 assists) and Mallory King (10 assists) set the attack.
Ellie Welter and Nosa Igiehon each had 5 kills for Wheeling (11-10, 0-3) which received 23 assists from setter Jessica Janowski, who also had 2 kills and 6 digs. Jazmyn Veloso collected 14 and Nicole Nguyen had 11 for the Wildcats.
Buffalo Grove d. Elk Grove: Led by Nicole Langer (7 kills), Mary Nowlan (6 kills), Claire Ferriss (5 kills), host Buffalo Grove (8-4, 2-1) posted a 25-15, 25-15 win over Elk Grove in the MSL East.
Abigail Kim added 3 kills while Maggie Streckert and Sasha Rzoshko each had 2. Riley Cross and Kristen Belias each served 2 aces. Streckert handed out 21 assists.
Rachel Kandefer put down 5 kills for the Grenadiers (1-11, 0-3), who received 9 digs from Megan Murray and 7 from Emma Slattery. Lexi Chirbas had 5 assists and Jalyssa Mercado 4.
St. Viator d. Regina: The host Lions improved to 14-4 with a 25-19, 25-18 nonconference win in which the offense was led by Catherine Hickey (10 kills), Kate Nottoli (7) and Kendall Claffey (7). Michaela Mueller handed out 26 assists while Carrie Leazer served 5 aces and had 12 digs.