Girls volleyball: Hersey tops Fremd, wins record 12th MSL title

Playing in a 15th straight Mid-Suburban League girls volleyball championship on Thursday night was quite an astonishing accomplishment in itself.

But Hersey put an exclamation point on its storied history by becoming the all-time winningest team in the conference's showcase event.

Racing to a 10-1 lead in Set 1 and 6-1 advantage in Set 2, the Huskies kept the pressure on host Fremd in the 45th edition of the title match and produced a 25-15, 25-22 for its 12th conference title, one more than Barrington.

"We knew coming into this match we were going to win," said Hersey's Amy Morgan, who along with fellow seniors Julia Coniglio and Emma Strozewski also played on Hersey's 11th championship team in 2015. "We have never played better than this. Our goal the entire season was to play in this match and I'm so proud of my team."

Hersey coach Nancy Lill, who rang up her 943rd career win, has coached the Huskies to 10 of the program's MSL crowns.

"What a way to go out for our seniors," Lill said. "We had all our underlevels represented here in the crowd. It was a great night for Hersey volleyball.

"Our goal was to win this match to have the most conference championships. The girls wanted to do it for the program."

Sophomore Alessia Olhava got the Huskies (24-6) rolling with four straight service points, including an ace, a block by sophomore Juliette van den Herik and a kill by Morgan.

"It's a game-changer when you can get leads like we did in both sets" said Morgan, who put down 4 kills with 5 digs. "We've learned the hard way that you have to come out strong to win the set. That's the most important time of the set. You want to get the lead and keep it and that's exactly what we did."

Fremd (22-9) got its only lead of the match in Set 2 when Peyton Hooker killed an overpass to tie it at 19, and she blocked an overpass for a 20-21 lead.

The Huskies answered with back-to-back kills by senior Hayley Martin, the second on a quick set for libero Coniglio.

Martin, playing in her first title match, also produced a gem in the first set. Her pancake move below the net got the ball to ride up the netting and fall on the other side.

"I've never had one like that, said Martin who somehow lifted the ball up just inches from the floor. "I always go for those. It felt awesome. The whole match was awesome."

Fremd got back within 23-22 on a tip kill by setter Sarah Straup and a kill by Jess Rizzo.

But Hersey took advantage of a couple of errors to put away the unprecedented 12th title.

"We were right there at the end of Set 2," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley. "You close that set out and then all of sudden it becomes one set. But Hersey did a really nice job keeping pressure on us. We just didn't produce in some key moments."

The Vikings were led on attack by Rizzo (5 kills), Hooker (4) and Heidi Sayre (3).

Straup handed out 13 assists. Maddie Aichinger led the back row with 9 digs while Rizzo had 6 and Breslen Reid 5. Jess Mazur paced the Vikes with 2 blocks.

"We just had a few hiccups in Set 1 and some at the end of Set 2," Pinley added. "But I give Hersey all the credit. They kept the pressure on us the whole match. We could never really get on track in Set 1.

"But the great thing about volleyball is that when a set ends, you restart with a whole new one. We did much better in the second one."

"Fremd was a different team in Set 2," Lill said. "They came out strong. They regrouped and were much better at serve receive."

Leading the balanced Huskies' on attack were Kaburov (5 kills), van den Herik (5), Martin (5), Morgan (4) and Coniglio (3). Olhava handed out 9 assists and Strozewski 5.

Coniglio produced 24 digs and chipped in 3 assists.

"Julia had great match," Lill said.

"We worked very well together," Coniglio said. "We all gave it everything on the floor. Everyone was diving. After losing to Fremd at home last year in this match, we really wanted to prove ourselves this time. "We all just kept trying to push and keep the lead. Getting the strong start really helped us and made us feel comfortable. Having a huge fan section really helped us keep up our energy on the court. It was very exciting and got the adrenaline going."

Lill said her team's desire to win was outstanding.

"Unbelievable," she said. "Our goal was to jump out on them, play aggressive and play fearless. There were so many times when it looked like the ball was down but our girls go there.

"Alessia was great with her speed and quickness and the plays she made. And Hayley and Juliette, oh my gosh, the plays they made.

"They (Fremd) know about our outside hitters. But it takes a team. They were keying on our outside and taking their strong swings away. But Haylee and Juliette made them pay, and Janine (Boyan) with her blocking."

Boyan had a big block in Set 1 that increased Hersey's lead to 16-6 and Fremd never got closer than 8 points.

"Those (deficits to start each set) were tough mountains to climb against a good team," Pinley added. "But we did a better job of climbing in Set 2. We just couldn't quite finish it off.

"But like I told the girls, this was a just a regular-season match. It's not the state tournament. We get to go play again (today at the Lake Park Invite)."