Familiar Early Bird finish for Schaumburg
Fore!
It means "look out" while on the golf course.
For the Schaumburg Saxons, it means the start of another girls volleyball season.
For the third straight year, the Saxons took fourth place in the 16-team Early Bird Classic, hosted by Fremd and Conant High Schools.
Gabrielle Blackwell, who has played on all three fourth-place finishers, led the Saxons with 25 kills in their five matches (3-0 in Friday night and 0-2 on Saturday).
She was followed by Heather Bolger (11 kills), Alexandria Jackson (11), Drewann Pancratz (10), Gryte Satas (7) and Monica Sanchez (6).
All-Area setter Pancratz handed out 56 assists and collected a team-high 46 digs.
"She does a good job for them," said 20-year veteran Milwaukee Pius XI coach Dave Scher, whose Lady Popes are 14-2 after taking third place over the Saxons with a 25-14, 25-16 victory. "Our serving was really good and that made it tough for the passers to get her the ball."
The Saxons (4-2) face Fremd (4-2) in Tuesday's Mid-Suburban West opener.
"One of our goals is always to get in the gold bracket (top four)," said Blackwell, also an all-area basketball player. "We didn't play as well as we wanted (Saturday). We had a lot of unforced errors and that's what killed us.
"Overall, I thought it was a good tournament for us."
Saxons coach Jeanette Pancratz watched her team defeat Rolling Meadows, Woodstock and Maine South in pool play Friday before falling to defending state champ Wheaton St. Francis (25-20, 25-5) and Pius on Saturday.
"Those were two tough teams," the coach said. "If you're going to lose, you want it to be to the best competition you can see. This was a learning experience.
"I thought we responded well after that second-game loss to Wheaton St. Francis (25-5). The girls didn't hang their heads and quit."
Fremd came away with sixth place in the tourney, thanks to a 19-25, 25-22, 15-10 victory over Conant, which placed seventh.
Hoffman Estates wound up eighth with a 2-3 record.
The Vikings were led on offense by Danielle Warner (32 kills), Stephanie Alesi (25), Bridget Morton (17) and Kaitlyn Pascus (15).
Natalie Bruck (45 assists) and Michelle Gonnella (14) handled the setting duties.
"It was a good opening weekend for us," said Morton, a tri-captain and 5-foot-9 middle hitter. "We're still trying to figure out things in the middle with our two new setters. They are strong and very capable. We have a lot of options with them."
Assistant coach Nick Vassos is directing the team for the first two weeks of season.
"Overall, we did pretty well," he said. "I want to see our middles get more involved. When Kaitlyn and Bridget get their hands on the ball, we're effective. So we want to see them move around more.
"I thought our outsides did a great job. They've added a lot to our offense. We're inconsistent there, but that's probably because I'm trying to speed them up a little."
Pascus collected 5 blocks, while Warner and Colleen Andersen each had 4.
"I thought we did a nice job with our blocking," Vassos added. "The girls are learning to read the attackers better."
Conant (4-3) was led on attack by West Virginia bound Michelle Kopecky (38 kills, 38 digs, 9 blocks), Liz Hozian (26 kills, 6 blocks) and Mandy Larsen (17 kills) while Tricia Kutramanes handed out 75 assists and had 7 aces.
Dana Demmert (19 kills), Jenna Milas (13) and Katie Stensland (11) paced the Rolling Meadows' attack which was set by Kim Liwag (36 assists) and Marisa Barry (19). The Mustangs (3-4) went 2-3 in the tourney for 10th place.
"It's a good start," said Mustangs coach Janet Opels. "We showed improvement throughout the weekend."
Katie Spychala (16 kills, 24 digs, 4 aces), Krystina Leazer (15 kills, 7 blocks, 3 aces) and Ashley Capotosto (9 kills, 7 blocks) led Elk Grove (3-5), which went 1-4 in the tourney.
Kelsey Prochenski (31 assists) and Amy Tranchita (27) set the offense. Caitlin Garrison served 6 aces for the Grens.
Hoffman Estates (3-5, 2-3) received 8 kills from senior Altrese Hawkins on Saturday and four from classmate Ashley Chervinko.
Junior Becky Gilbert (12 assists and sophomore Stephanie Schwarz (5) handled the setting chores while sophomore Megan Bernardoni had 2 blocks.
Summer's End tourney: Wheeling (4-3) went 3-2 at the New Trier tourney, posting wins over Regina, Zion-Benton and Waukegan.
Lidia Villalobos led the Wildcats' offense with 25 kills followed by Lindsey Mills and Nicole Schroeder with 16 apiece.
Carly Speidel and Bianca Szafarowicz each had 7 kills while Janelle Schroeder (35 assists) and Speidel (16) were the primary setters.
Maine West junior Alise Tupuritis had 39 kills (16 on Saturday) as the Warriors (2-4) went 2-3 in the 16-team tourney.
The Warriors earned their wins on Saturday over Regina and Warren in two games.
Other attack leaders for West were Sarah Dister (16 kills) Mary Kusner (12), Maria Rozo (11), Liz Freeman (9) and Kelsey Hargesheimer (6).
"The team competed and communicated as a unit (Saturday)," said Warriors coach Randy Tiller. "We saw the benefits of playing against strong teams on Friday night (New Trier, Zion-Benton and Loyola). The girls gained the confidence that they can compete with the best."