Notable night, but Knights fall
It could have been Nostalgia Night at Prospect on Monday.
In the underclassman gym, former Knights volleyball standouts Molly May, Holly Rothstein and Peter King were back coaching freshmen teams.
May is a freshman coach for Prospect while Rothstein and King are at Maine South.
A few steps away in the Jean Walker Field House, there was more Prospect girls volleyball history taking place as varsity middle hitter Hillary Trebels was starting her senior season as one of the few Division I volleyball players in school history.
The 6-foot-1 Virginia-bound Trebels made her presence felt with 6 kills and 5 blocks, but Maine South spoiled the Knights' home opener with a 19-25, 25-15, 25-19 triumph.
"She (Trebels) was playing like a Division I player so we tried to make some adjustments on her in the second and third games," said Maine South coach Kelly Markworth, who was back coaching her first match for the Hawks after leaving the same post six years ago to start a family.
"Obviously, they were able to run their middle a lot better than us. I credit (Trebels) for scoring a lot of points during her three rotations each time."
Prospect coach Mike Riedy credited Trebels with some big-time play.
"We saw flashes of brilliance," the coach said. "When you play for two or three seasons with Sports Performance (elite club) and have the best setters and best passers, it's a little different. She just has to adjust to not always having the perfect set or the perfect pass.
"When the pass and set were there, she was drilling the ball. And her blocking was great. She did a nice job reading their offense and was in the right spot at the right time."
Senior Megan Murray added 6 kills for the Knights while classmate Lindsay Valentino had 3 while also collecting 10 digs and serving 7 of 9.
"I was very pleased with Lindsay Valentino," Riedy added. "She just offered us consistency. She had only 3 kills but didn't make any mistakes. She kept the ball in play. She was aggressive on defense and passed the ball when we needed her to."
Prospect used a 5-point serving run by setter Jackie Canonaco (18 assists) to take a 10-5 lead in Game 1 .
Maine South got the jump in Game 2 with a 4-0 lead and led by as much as 14-5.
Prospect came out sharp in Game 3, grabbing an 8- 2 lead on a kill by Murray. But the Hawks scored 9 of the next 12 points to tie the game at 11-11 and then went on to pull out the match.
"We were a little scared in Game 2," Canonaco said. "Maine South started serving stronger and we were backing away. We'll move forward. We've got to learn to play as a team."
"I think a couple of our players who don't have varsity experience had some first-match jitters," Riedy added. "And that got to them a bit."
Prospect senior Mary Kate Ward was 9 of 10 on serve receive while libero Kelly Chuipek contributed 16 digs and Kathleen Hudson 8.
Tracy Hefferan added 3 blocks for the Knights.
Buffalo Grove d. Lake Forest: ŒEmily Nowcki (8 kills) and Lauren Angotti (6) led Buffalo to a 25-19, 22-25, 25-15 victory while Jillian Kazmierczak (9 assists) and Samantha McCormack (8) handled the setting chores for the Bison in their season opener.
Conant d. Lake park: Cougars Hall of Fame coach Peggy Scholten began her 31st season by watching her club post a 25-16, 17-25, 26-24 triumph.
West Virginia-bound Michelle Kopecky led the Conant attack with 11 kills, followed by Katherine Hozian (6), Mandy Larsen (6) and Kelsey Paulson (3).
Tricia Kutramanes handed out 24 assists.
Deerfield d. Wheeling: Deerfield posted a 22-25, 25-22, 25-19 victory over the Wildcats, who were led on attack by Carly Speidel (7 kills), Nicole Schroeder (5 kills) and Lida Villalobos (4).
Janelle Schroeder handed out 19 assists for the Wildcats.
Vernon Hills d. St. Viator: Charlie Curtin made his debut as the Lions girls volleyball coach and he faced former St. Viator head girls basketball coach Abbie Willenborg, now in her first year as the Vernon Hills coach volleyball coach.
The Cougars posted an 11-25, 25-23, 25-23 over the Lions, who received 10 kills from Kristen Guth and 8 apiece from Christina Brinkman and Cara George.
Setter Danielle Presta handed out 26 assists while Jackie Stanley had 6 digs.