Lakes makes gains
The Lakes girls volleyball team lost its season opener Monday at Mundelein but managed to impress the opposition in the process.
"This is the best Lakes team I've seen since the school opened," Mundelein coach George Dressen Jr. said.
Mundelein had to work, particularly in the second game for its 25-16, 25-23 victory.
If Lakes had served better, the match could very well have been extended to a third game. Three of the Eagles' seven missed serves, including the one at match point, came deep in the second game.
"Bad serving killed us," Lakes coach Carla Thompson said.
Thompson does not expect to see the same mistakes from her veteran team as the season progresses. She liked the way they recognized the areas in which they need to improve.
"They know what they did wrong," Thompson said. "They can fix it without me telling them what they did wrong."
Mundelein (1-0) turned a 10-9 deficit in the first game into a 21-15 advantage. The Mustangs extended their lead to 6 points when senior Mallory Boich's block put Lakes on the defensive, and senior Sarah Kelly finished the point off with a kill.
Although the Mustangs were inconsistent on offense, it was not the fault of their serve-receive.
"I felt our serve-receive might be a weakness at the start of the season but it came together," Dressen said.
Sophomore Kelsey Sullivan made her varsity debut as a setter. She was a hitter last year on Mundelein's freshman team. Sullivan had 14 assists.
"This was the first time she ran a 5-1 offense," Dressen said. "It was a good start for her."
Added Sullivan: "I had some iffy sets but my hitters adapted. I think we'll be really good by the end of the season."
Megan Barron, one of three sophomore starters for Mundelein, had a team-high 4 kills. Senior libero Mandi Baumgartner led the way with 8 digs.
"We have a lot of people who haven't played together so we need more communication," senior Katie Randau said. "The offense needs to step up, but the defense got a lot of balls up. We played pretty well."
Lakes ran a 5-2 offense with senior Kathy Szczesniak and junior Steffanie Fisher combining for 13 assists.
VH d. St. Viator: Despite playing shorthanded, Vernon Hills' girls volleyball team opened its 2007 season with a win Monday night.
Rachael Ramsey slammed 6 kills on 10-of-10 hitting and served 8 of 9 with an ace, as the Cougars rallied to defeat St. Viator 11-25, 25-23, 25-23.
"We came back from a very sloppy start to really turn it up and play well," Vernon Hills coach Abbie Gutzmer said. "We still have a lot to improve on, but to win like this is a good start to the year."
Caitlin McKenna and Brianna Skeens each had 5 kills for Vernon Hills. Setter Kelsey Guglielmi had a big night, as well, serving 5 aces (15 of 17) and lofting 21 assists (50 of 53). The Cougars also got 3 kills from Sarah Milligan and 3 aces from Megan Kubacki.
Vernon Hills played without a handful of players, including Jamie Rucks and Kelly Nagle.
Waukegan d. Warren: The Bulldogs rallied for a 25-27, 25-23, 25-22 win.
Laura Scheck had 7 kills for the Blue Devils, while Sarah Myles and Amanda Rapp had 6 apiece. Kelsey Smith and Myles had 3 and 2 aces, respectively.
Missy Ceisel dished out 14 assists, and Lindsey Goad tallied 9.
"Waukegan has a very nice team. Nice tall hitters," Warren coach Julie Filippo said. "We found out what we needed to concentrate on. Our defense was a bit slow reading the tip and we missed 13 serves in the match."
Warren visits Glenbrook North tonight and will see Waukegan again Friday night at New Trier.
Lake Zurich d. Glenbrook N.: The Bears opened their season with a 27-25, 25-17 victory.
Amber Miehlke had 6 kills for Lake Zurich, while Lydia Bauer set 25 of 27 with 11 assists.
Girls golf
Lake Zurich d. Lakes: At Antioch Golf Club, Lakes' Sarah Metzger birdied the eighth hole.
Abbie Horan of the Eagles was medalist with a 39, but Lake Zurich shot 204 to defeat Lakes by eight strokes.
Warren d. Antioch: At Spring Valley, Dana Lindelow was medalist with a 48, as the Blue Devils won 200-307.
Boys golf
Grant d. LFA: At Antioch Golf Club, the Bulldogs got 42s from Dan Otway, Kurt Ray and Adam Ticker. Dan Tromotola's 49 rounded out the scoring for Grant (175), which defeated Lake Forest Academy by 11 shots.