Aguilar serves Wauconda to win

The hometown crowd made the difference.

Coach Jonathan Grandt gave an assist to the football team and fellow Wauconda fans after his volleyball team's 25-16, 20-25, 25-21 victory over visiting Grant in North Suburban Prairie Division action Tuesday night.

"I have to hand it to the football players and also the parents," Grandt said. "Making all of that noise in the stands really helped the momentum come our way. We definitely have to give an assist to the football team."

With Wauconda down 21-15 in the third game, junior Lisa Aguilar made noise on the court as she utilized a float serve to score 10 points in a row, including 5 aces.

"I couldn't breathe and had trouble focusing," Aguilar said. "I just blocked out all the sounds and served like I always do."

Aguilar, a first-year varsity player, finished with 6 aces and also led Wauconda with 9 digs.

"Lisa really improved in the off-season," Grandt said. "Her serve is one of the better ones on the team. She has real good control and can put the ball where she wants."

After Wauconda claimed a 25-16 victory in the first game, Grant came out smoking in the second game and built a 22-12 lead.

But Wauconda chipped away to come within 24-19. Lauren Mead and Aguilar each had kills.

After Grant's Jamie Swanson and Wauconda's Becky Breakfield exchanged kills, Grant's Savannah Trevithick tapped the ball just over the net for the win.

After winning the second game and building a big lead in the third, Grant was stunned about losing the match.

"In those last points, we tried subbing and tried rotating and called timeout to figure out her serve," Grant's Bailey Wagner said of Aguilar. "I think everybody just broke down thinking that we had won, but it's never over until the final point."

Grant fell to 2-10 overall and 0-2 in the NSC Prairie.

"We gave it away," Grant coach Sue Thompson said. "We've struggled with that all season. We were close. We had 22 points, but we've been struggling to finish."

Mead and co-captain Breakfield led the Wauconda (8-7, 1-1) with 8 kills each. Maddie Westman added 4 kills and 3 solo blocks. Michelle Waltenburg distributed 24 assists, and Stephanie Olson chipped in 3 solo blocks.

"It was hard to come together in the beginning of the year with a lot of new girls on the team," Mead said. "But we came together in this game and we also have to thank our crowd for cheering us on."

Swanson led Grant with 9 kills, while Wagner chipped in 8. Wagner and Swanson paced Grant's defense with 6 digs each, and Rachel Behm added 5.

Rachel Mitchell served a perfect 14 of 14 with 3 aces, Wagner had 4 aces and Amber Potts served 7 of 9 with 2 aces.

-- Irv Solomon

Mundelein d. Libertyville: The Mundelein volleyball team has lost its share of close matches this season.

That's why the Mustangs will savor their 25-20, 20-25, 25-23 victory over visiting Libertyville on Tuesday for some time.

"This was the hump we needed to get over," Mundelein coach George Dressen Jr. said.

Sophomore middle blocker Michelle Parssinen came through with the best match of her varsity career. She was 11 of 13 with 8 kills and a match-high 5 blocks.

Every kill and block she recorded seemed to bring a roar from the bench and the crowd.

"That gets me fired up when I hear that from the bench," Parssinen said.

Mundelein improved to 4-6 for the season and 2-0 in the NSC Lake division. Libertyville dropped to 4-2, 1-1.

Parssinen, who started on the varsity as a freshman, helped Mundelein overcome a shaky start. Libertyville led 7-2 and 10-4 before the Mustangs began their comeback.

Trailing 14-9, Parssinen sparked the Mustangs by sandwiching a block around two kills. This drew Mundelein to 15-12 and seemed to relax the entire team.

"We had played tight in our previous losses," Parssinen said. "We play better when we loosen up."

Libertyville still led 19-14, before Mundelein went on an 8-0 run. Sophomore Megan Barron served three of her six aces during this stretch, as Libertyville's serve-receive faltered.

"We competed hard, but our passing hurt us," Wildcats coach Chris Trzyna said.

Barron was 20 of 21 serving and had 5 kills.

"She's very consistent," Dressen said. "She has a great personality on the court. She never gets down."

Libertyville rebounded to take the second game. Senior setter Erin DeMarco (22 assists) continued to assert herself, with 3 of her 6 kills coming in this game. Twice she set the ball directly over the net, and once she hit it over for Libertyville points.

Dressen told his team prior to the third game the biggest key would be to prevent Libertyville from stringing together a big string of points.

"If we didn't give up large runs, we'd be in it to the end," he said.

Once Libertyville tied the score at 15-15, neither team led by more than one point until Mundelein came through on match point. A kill by Parssinen tied the score at 22-22. After a Mundelein point, Libertyville tied the score at 23-23. But then a Parssinen block and a Libertyville hitting error secured the victory for the Mustangs.

"(Parssinen) is the most dynamic player on the floor," Dressen said.

For Libertyville, it was too many miscues at the wrong time.

"We beat ourselves," senior libero Emma Melendez said.

Libertyville senior Ali Haws contributed a team-high 9 kills. Senior Amber Bryant and junior Emma Mach had 8 and 7 kills, respectively. Melendez posted 11 digs.

Mundelein senior Mallory Boich contributed in all phases with 2 kills, 2 blocks, 2 aces and 3 digs. Alysa Fritz totaled 17 digs.

Just a few minutes after the match, Dressen already was excited about what this victory could mean for the Mustangs.

"You could see the excitement on their faces," Dressen said. "I'm looking forward to tomorrow's practice."

-- Bob Gosman