Leazer's perfect strike a big hit with Elk Grove

In two years pitching for the Elk Grove varsity softball team, Krystina Leazer has not lost a game.

Tuesday night she won a game for the Grenadiers' volleyball team.

It was the second game when her ace gave Elk Grove a 25-16, 28-26 victory at Maine West in both team's season openers.

Leazer, who is 9-0 in two seasons as a right-handed pitcher for Ken Grams' program, threw a perfect strike to end the match.

The 5-foot-9 junior middle hitter also had a key kill to give Elk Grove a 25-24 lead and a clutch tip for a 26-25 advantage before finally tossing the game-winning ace.

Just like throwing a strike, right, Krystina?

"Pretty much, I guess," she said with a smile. "It's the same as in pitching, when you have to hit your spots."

"Krystina definitely helped us out," said Grenadiers coach Joe DiSilvio. "I had talked to her before the match.

"She's a great three-sport athlete and I just told her to have confidence in herself because she is going to do good things for us the next two years. And she did tonight."

Annie Fitzpatrick led the winners with 6 kills while Leazer added 4.

Defensively, Megan Maize had 6 digs followed by Katie Spychala (5) and Katie Loos (4). Spychala served 16-of-17 with 1 ace.

Elk Grove rallied from a 20-16 deficit in Game 2.

"We weren't worried at any point," Spychala said. "We were confident the entire way. We had all our underlevel teams cheering us on, and that helped, too."

Maine West was led by Mary Kusner (6 kills) and Alise Tupuritis (5). Michelle Obillo and Liz Freeman shared the setting responsibilities for the Warriors.

Game 2 was tied 10-10 when Maria Rozo served 5 straight points, including an ace, to give the Warriors their biggest lead of the match.

"Maria is a sophomore and really contributed in Game 2," said West coach Randy Tiller. "Mary Kusner turned it on with 4 kills and 1 block in the second game and Alise stepped up, too, with 4 kills."

Tiller credited Elk Grove's offense, which was directed by Kelsey Prochenski (10 assists) and Amy Tranchita (3).

"They found a way to put the ball down on our floor," he said. "There were times they really finessed us. We'll work on playing smarter.

"We've also got to work on passing and I was surprised how many times we were called for net violations. That's something else we'll work on."

The Grenadiers will work on stopping defending Mid-Suburban League champ Barrington today.

"We know they'll come in with a solid team," DiSilivio said. "So it will be a good challenge for us."

Libertyville d. Hersey: Libertyville coach Chris Trzyna loved what she saw from her team in preseason practices. Of course, Trzyna said she would temper her enthusiasm until seeing her team in action.

If anything, Libertyville's performance against visiting Hersey on Tuesday will make her even more optimistic. The Wildcats played near-perfect defense in a 27-25, 25-16, season-opening victory.

"There was (a lot) to smile about," Trzyna said.

And that led to a lot of frustration for Hersey.

"They dug the heck out of the ball," Hersey coach Nancy Lill said. "There were a couple of times where I thought the ball was down and they dug it up. Libertyville came ready to play, and we were all over the place."

The best example of Libertyville's refusal to concede a point came in the second game. Senior setter Erin DeMarco was able to dig a ball that bounced off the ceiling, and then the Wildcats passed the ball over the net. They wound up winning the point and extending their lead to 15-11 on a kill by junior Maka Stewart.

"We go after every ball, and I was in the right place at the right time," DeMarco said. "Our defense has been great since day one."

DeMarco did a little bit of everything for the Wildcats, contributing 18 assists and 5 service points. Excellent passing helped DeMarco and the offense click.

"Our serve-receive was unstoppable," said senior libero Emma Melendez, who was 16-for-16 in that crucial category. "That was a great way to start off the year."

Senior middle blocker Ali Haws made her biggest contribution at the service line. She served 7 points and had 3 aces. Melendez closed out the match with consecutive kills.

Junior Emma Mach had a team-high 6 kills. Senior Amber Bryant and Stewart had 4 and 3 kills, respectively.

Hersey senior Lauren Dembkowski accumulated team highs in kills (5) and digs (10).

"Our passing and setting was off," Lill said. "It's going to take us awhile, but I'm excited about this team."

Stevenson d. Meadows: Stevenson posted a 25-16, 25-16 victory.

The Mustangs were led on attack by Jenna Milas (4 kills) and Dana Demmert (3). Setter Marisa Barry handed out 6 assists while Kim Liwag had 4. Lindsey Berg collected a team-high 12 digs for Meadows in its season opener.

Grant d. Palatine: Grant topped the Pirates 20-25, 25-16, 25-21 in the nonconference season opener.

Nikki Linares (15-of-16) rang up 4 aces for Palatine while Kara Littwin was 7-of-7 serving and Kate Kleiva 8-of-10 with 2 aces.

Littwin was inadvertently left off the roster for Palatine newcomers in the preseason capsule.

Linnares also had 22 digs while Kleiva had 18.

Bartlett d. Hoffman Estates: Bartlett won the nonconference match 21-25, 23-25, 25-11.

Alex Wulbecker led Hoffman with 5 kills, followed by Torrie Raio (4) and Ashley Chervinko (3).

Altrese Hawkins and Chervinko each had 7 digs while Stephanie Schwarz had 13 assists and Becky Gilbert 6.