Bulldogs, Rams enjoy tourney wins

Saturday's Ram Slam Volleyball Tournament was the first taste of tournament play this year for both Wauconda and host Grayslake Central. For both, it was a welcome arrival.

The Bulldogs and Rams both entered play seeking their first wins of the young campaign. Both went 3-2 on the day, and both earned medals by finishing second and third, respectively behind tournament champ Johnsburg.

"This really boosts our confidence, and we're looking to keep getting better," said Rams junior Shannon Curtis, who totaled 19 kills and 9 aces. "We did a good job passing and playing defense. Really, it was just communication and pulling together as a team."

The Bulldogs (3-4) advanced to the championship round with a 25-19, 27-25 victory against Richmond-Burton, coming from behind in both games.

In the opener, Wauconda trailed 14-11 before earning a sideout on a kill by Lauren Mead and following that 5 straight service points from setter Kristy Waltenburg. After the Rockets broke that run, Mead again got a key kill and set up another run -- this one with Stephanie Olson serving -- that gave the Bulldogs a 22-17 lead.

In Game 2, the Bulldogs trailed by 5 early and faced a 23-20 deficit late. They turned that into a lead with 4 straight points -- including an ace -- from Lisa Aguilar and, after trading the next 3 points, closed with a hard kill by Becky Breakfield off a Waltenburg set and a serve by Corinne Feight that the Rockets returned long.

"My hat's off to the girls; they never gave up and kept fighting," Wauconda coach Jonathan Grandt said. "We improved some of the things that caused us to be down, and that allowed us to come back. This was a good test for us to see where we are, what we need to work on, and how far we've come so far."

The Bulldogs finished their day with a 19-25, 14-25 loss to Johnsburg in the title round, keeping both games close early but never taking a lead after the opening minutes of the first. Wauconda had beaten the Skyhawks earlier in the day, but Michelle McDonald hit well and Johnsburg made few errors in the title game.

Wauconda opened pool play with that 12-25, 25-20, 27-25 victory against the Skyhawks, then lost 25-27, 17-25 to DeKalb before topping Grayslake North 25-20, 25-20.

"Our offense is going to be good once we come together, and our blocking should be one of our strengths because we're a fairly tall team," Grandt said. "Once we get in synch, we have some big hitters who are capable of hitting the ball hard, and it's just a matter of developing some consistency."

Grayslake Central also went 2-1 in the pool rounds, beating North Chicago 25-10, 25-21 and Rockford Jefferson 25-8, 25-11 but falling to Richmond-Burton 17-25, 25-21, 25-27.

A 25-17, 14-25, 11-25 loss to Johnsburg sent the Rams (3-3) to the third-place game for a rematch with the Rockets. This time, Grayslake exacted some payback.

Richmond took the first game and led the second before Grayslake took the advantage on a service run by Curtis and used its solid defense to force a third game.

"Shannon Curtis can take over a game with her serves," Rams coach Jason Janczak said. "We needed a spark, we were tired, hot and sweaty. Once Shannon got rolling on that, they realized this was possible. You started to see a transformation in their energy and that's what turned this around."

The teams stayed close early. But once the Rams took the lead at 13-12 on a block at the net by Anna Dlesk (8 kills on the day), they started to pull away. Service runs by Brittany Gibson (9 aces) and Curtis turned that 1-point lead into a 22-13 advantage. The Rockets fought back to 24-23, but Dlesk broke their streak with a kill through two blockers that proved the match-winner.

Tory Dohm led the Rams in kills for the day with 28, while Curtis had 19 and Brianna Anderson 14.

"Our goal is to change the way people perceive Grayslake volleyball, and this was one of the best finishes we've ever had in this tournament," Janczak said. "We had a tough game against Johnsburg, and they're a solid team. But we came into this last match thinking we were going to finish as high as we could. We're young, and this was a big step for us."

Golden Eagle Invitational: Behind 8 kills from all-tournament selection Carly Hayes, Crystal Lake Central downed Cary-Grove 25-17, 25-21 to claim the tournament title at Jacobs.

Central, considered by many to be a Class 3A state title contender this season, was more rested going into the final match. The Tigers easily dispatched Stevenson, 25-16, 25-7, in a semifinal matchup, while the Trojans struggled through a 3-game semifinal before defeating Belvidere, 25-23, 22-25, 25-21.

Stevenson had beaten the Tigers in the Jacobs tournament final the previous 2 years.

Stevenson (4-3) downed Belvidere, 25-17, 25-18, for third place.

"All the girls played pretty well today," said Stevenson coach Tim Crow. "Different girls stepped up in different matches."

In the final match it was Michelle Fleishman and Mary Kate Fritzsche leading the way for the Patriots.

At Conant: Mundelein went 1-4 in the Early Bird Invitational, defeating Palatine but losing to St. Francis, Hoffman Estates, Rolling Meadows and Resurrection.

Sarah Kelly and Katie Randau had 19 and 18 kills, respectively, for Mundelein (2-5). Alysa Fritz served 9 aces, and Kelsey Sullivan lofted 67 assists.

Lake Zurich (4-3) won both of its matches Saturday to finish 3-2 in the tourney. Crystal Wright had 8 kills in a 25-23, 25-17 win over Resurrrection and eight more in a 25-19, 25-14 victory over Rolling Meadows.