Wildcats come back against Palatine
Wheeling played off its team motto Thursday night and refused to lose.
The host Wildcats used a string of positives to come back from a one-game deficit and defeat Palatine 19-25, 25-22, 25-18 in a Mid-Suburban League girls volleyball crossover.
"We're not going to give up easy," Wheeling coach Rita Runyard said.
The Wildcats (1-1) used a 5-1 attack and contributions from a number of players to earn bragging rights for the MSL East.
"When you have six hitters contributing you know you're doing your job. It's not like we had one or two who were really outstanding," Runyard said.
With so many contributors, Runyard had a difficult time pin-pointing her most valuable player of the night, but did single out senior Lindsey Mills (4 kills, 5 blocks). The three-year varsity player had 2 key blocks that preserved the clinching third game.
"It helps pick up the tempo when you have something like that," Mills said.
Tempo was a big part of the Wildcats' game plan. After losing their season-opening contest, the team looked to concentrate on harnessing their emotions.
"(Against Deerfield) we fell 3 points behind and we let our emotions take over. It was more of a negative than a positive," Runyard said. "Any time we did something positive tonight we tried to roll with it and get more positive out of it."
In order to maintain the positive attitude, the Wildcats were observant to eliminate negative strings. They were keen not to give up more than 2 points in a row, according to Runyard.
On the occasions Palatine managed to string together points, Wheeling reeled off a string of its own.
"We came out with a fire," Mills said. "We just wanted it more. We had the taste of defeat and we just wanted the victory."
Janelle Schroeder had 18 assists and Bianca Szafarowicz had a monster game with perfect 7-of-7 serving, 4 kills and 9 digs.
Palatine fell to 0-2 and it was the second straight contest it won the first game only to drop the final two.
"We have figured out that we can our first game. Now we're working on putting two games together," Palatine coach Dan Gavin said.
Palatine's aggressive style worked as a disadvantage in the final two games.
"We did a great job scrapping and playing defense. We (need to run) through some of the balls instead of diving all the time," Gavin said.
In order for Palatine to pick up their first victory, Gavin believes his team needs to find a way to limit some of their errors while maintaining their aggressive style.
Freshman Kaley Sierawski remains upbeat about her team's chances.
"We need to keep cheering on and hoping that everyone makes their move. We did a good job tonight," Sierawski said.
Hersey d. Conant: Well played games by Hersey's Lauren Dembkowski, Shelly Mueller and sophomore Becca Harris added up to a 25-12, 25-19 win against Conant in MSL crossover play. Mueller had 19 assists while Dembkowski added 11 kills.
Rolling Meadows d. Hoffman Estates: Rolling Meadows swept Hoffman Estates 25-18, 25-23 in MSL crossover action. The Mustangs were led by Dana Demmert who had 4 kills and 3 blocks.
Fremd d. Prospect:ŒVisiting Fremd prevailed with a 25-21, 25-23 MSL crossover victory. Danielle Warner led the Vikings with 8 kills while Natalie Bruck had 7 assists.
Schaumburg d. Buffalo Grove: Schaumburg dispatched host Buffalo Grove 25-15, 25-22 in two games in the MSL crossover. Setter Drewann Pancratz was stellar with 5 aces, 10 assists and 2 kills while Heather Bolger and Gabrielle Blackwell had 5 kills apiece.