Tigers impressive at Willowbrook

The Wheaton Warrenville South girls volleyball squad left no doubt who the best team was in the Willowbrook Invitational.

The Tigers completed a sweep through the eight-team tourney with a 25-12, 25-20 triumph over Hersey in the championship match Saturday afternoon in Villa Park.

"It's a start, a good start," said WW South senior outside hitter Becca Zlabis, who pounded a match-high 10 kills. "We know where we are now and what we need to work on. Our goal is to win state so we're just taking baby steps to get there."

WW South (5-0) looked like a serious Class 4A state title contender the way it dismantled Hersey (4-3) in the first game with strong serving and a powerful attack.

Hersey fell behind 5-0 in Game 2 before regrouping and shoring up its serve receiving to give the Tigers a battle. The Huskies rode a 4-point run to claim an 18-17 lead after an Ann Carroll kill and a Shelly Mueller ace.

But the Tigers recorded the next 7 points with Mollie Kolosky taking a quick set from Anne Luhrsen and burying a kill for match point.

Kolosky finished with 7 kills. Luhrsen tallied 17 assists, 3 aces and 2 kills.

"It's good to get off to a good start, but it's a long season and we saw some things we definitely need to work on," Tigers coach Bill Schreier said. "It was good to get a couple matches underneath our belt. Next week is going to be difficult. We've got Naperville Central on Tuesday, Downers South on Friday."

Lauren Dembkowski's 6 kills paced Hersey.

"They came at us," said Huskies coach Nancy Lill, whose club was the only one to reach 20 points in a game against WW South. "It was an awakening at times, but I'm thrilled with the way we played overall."

Hinsdale South (3-3) edged West Suburban Gold Conference rival Willowbrook 14-25, 25-17, 15-12 in the third-place match behind Joanna Giampoli's 13 kills.

"That's the most chemistry I've seen from our team even though it wasn't pretty," said Hinsdale South coach Lisa Martinez, who watched her Hornets score the final 3 points on an Evan Schulz kill and back-to-back aces by Amy Czupryn.

Danielle Muhlena led Willowbrook (4-3) in kills with 8.

"We're making beginning-of-the-season mistakes, but I think they're gaining confidence," said Warriors coach Sue Bower, whose team is off to its best start in five years.