Carmel falls in final at VH
Heading into the weekend, Carmel's girls volleyball team had played just one match this season, so Saturday's Cougar Classic at Vernon Hills was a real chance for the Corsairs to see how they'd fare against a range of competition.
Carmel faced that test well, going undefeated in pool play and advancing to the championship game. The Corsairs attacked well all day, and improved to 3-1-2 on the year.
"Defensively, we were doing pretty well, and our offense was clicking already," Carmel coach Bill Szczesniak said. "Earlier, against Mundelein and even earlier today, our offense wasn't clicking that well. As the day went on, we got more comfortable with it and it really started to work. I was very happy with that."
In the morning, the Corsairs defeated Glenbrook North 25-22, 25-23 and then split a pair of matches against Montini (22-25, 25-19) and Lake Park (25-16, 18-25), advancing based on total points scored.
They topped Vernon Hills 25-19, 25-19 in the semifinal before falling 17-25, 20-25 to Marian Central. Both games in the championship were close early, but the Hurricanes used a run of kills by its middle hitters to pull ahead 20-14 in the first game and took advantage of some late errors to do the same in the second.
With Vanessa Toby still working her way back from an ankle injury, Kaitlyn Howard handled most of the hitting duties for the Corsairs, delivering team highs of 32 kills and 8 blocks. Setter Ashley August ran the offense well with 65 assists, adding 23 digs, 12 kills and 9 aces from the service line.
"Kaitlyn sees the floor so well, so she can really pick her holes," Szczesniak said. "She likes a quicker offense, so we're trying to get the tempo up. Ashley, our setter, is normally a libero and a very good defender. But this year we've made her a setter and she's already been outstanding. She's so athletic, very smart, good court sense. Having her run this with everyone, we'll get even stronger as they get used to her."
Kelley Jazdzewski had 22 kills, 6 blocks and 3 aces, Megan Paterkiewicz added 11 kills and 9 aces and Kelsey Fredrick had a team-high 36 digs. Sophomore Paige Sivertsen added 9 kills and 25 digs.
The host Cougars (7-6-1) finished fourth in the tournament. They fell to Marian Central 19-25, 18-25, then split with Buffalo Grove (22-25, 25-17) before sweeping Deerfield 25-19, 25-21. After the loss to Carmel, they stayed close early against Glenbrook North in the third-place match, but the Spartans scored 7 in a row late in Game 1 and closed the second on a 10-3 run.
"Up until today, we've been playing the best volleyball I've seen since I came to Vernon Hills, but we had a little letdown today," Vernon Hills coach Abbie Gutzmer said. "What makes us go is when we all play like a team. When we do that we play great, and when we play like individuals we slow down."
Caitlin McKenna hit 48-of-62 with 15 kills, adding 24 digs. Brianna Skeens was 42-of-51 with 19 kills and 11 blocks, while Rachael Ramsey hit 37-of-39 with 21 kills and 14 blocks. Megan Kubacki led the team with 27 digs, while setter Kelsey Guglielmi had 11 to go with a 197-of-205 passing day (54 assists).
"Our middles are our strength, so running our middles is huge for us; they've got the most experience on the team," Gutzmer said. "We've got a very smart player on the outside in Caitlin McKenna, who pretty much runs the show for us in the back row along with our libero Amy Choi and Megan Kubacki. Rachael and Bri we're going to rely a lot on."
Vernon Hills played most of the day without Choi, who was hurt in the first match but is expected back soon.
The Corsairs next play at Warren on Tuesday, while the Cougars host conference rival North Chicago on Friday.
"We've got a little time here to regroup and refocus, which is nice," said Gutzmer, whose team is 1-0 in North Suburban Conference Prairie Division play. "So we have a chance to work on our timing, learn from today and bounce back strong."