Saxons survive many tests

Tuesday's Mid-Suburban West girls volleyball showdown could have adopted an "Against All Odds" theme for the home team.

In a first-place battle with visiting Barrington, Schaumburg dropped the first game and found itself down 11-6 in Game 2.

Making matters worse, the Saxons' all-area setter supreme Drewann Pancratz just went to the bench with an ankle injury.

Add to the mix the fact the Saxons had not beaten seven-time defending West champ Barrington this decade.

But senior Gabrielle Blackwell served Schaumburg right back into contention.

Junior Monica Sanchez moved smoothly into the setting position and senior reserve Sam Kelly filled in with stellar defense to spark the comeback.

When all was said and done, the Saxons kept their fans on their feet to the finish and pulled out a 23-25, 25-17, 25-21 triumph.

Blackwell, who blasted a match-high 16 kills, served 10 straight points as Schaumburg shot into a 17-11 lead in Game 2.

Pancratz then re-entered the game and the Saxons (13-3, 4-0) never let Barrington (4-13, 3-1) closer than 5 points the rest of the way.

"My heart dropped a little (when Pancratz came up hobbling)," said senior Alexandria Jackson, who put down 9 kills, including 5 in Game 3. "But I was confident, win or lose, we were going to play our hearts out the rest of the match.

"And I believed in Monica as our setter the whole time. She had no fear."

The Saxons played fearlessly to the end, and finally pulled out a tense, back-and-forth third game when Jackson put down her ninth kill to end the match.

Barrington's last lead was at 17-16. A kill by Sanchez (6 assists, 3 kills) tied the game at 17-17.

Blackwell (18-of-19, 1 ace) then served the Saxons to a 23-17 lead with 5 straight points.

Pancratz, who finished with 23 assists, 3 kills and 8 digs and was noticeably favoring her right ankle at times, gutted it out after returning to the floor.

"We felt pretty comfortable there," said Barrington coach Chris Bronke. "We're up 11-6 and their setter was sitting on the bench. And Jeanette (Schaumburg coach Pancratz) had used both her timeouts. You couldn't have drawn it up better for us.

"Maybe it was our lack of varsity experience and a lot of gritty plays by Schaumburg.

"Obviously, Drewann's injury was a rallying cry for them. And I thought it was great to see her return to the floor. It was a great crowd, and it's her senior year. From that side, I was very happy for her."

Jeanette Pancratz summed up the match with thee words.

"Fun, exciting and tense," she said. "Sam (Kelly) really stepped up huge in crunch time when she came in to play right side defense (when Drewann was injured). They (Barrington) swung to her side and she did great to dig them up.

"Gabrielle was on a roll serving then and Monica was solid at setting. She is our second setter and we are confident in her. I believe we have two solid setters."

Heather Bolger added 5 kills and led the defense with 17 digs while Aleks Kostka added 13 digs for the Saxons.

Gryte Satas, who made her presence felt at the net, put down 2 kills.

Barrington was paced on attack by Jackie Patmore (8 kills), Kelly Pickering (7) and Marley Leitner (6). Katie Goldrath had 29 digs and Madeline Root and Meredith Derr each served an ace.

Root had 15 assists and Lizzie Farr 12.

"They (Barrington) are very solid defensively," Jeanette Pancratz added. "And Jackie (Patmore) is tough to defend."

Meadows d. Prospect: The visiting Mustangs (6-6, 3-1) moved into a three-way tie for first place in the MSL East with a 25-22, 25-16 victory.

Jackie Carbery (5 kills), Jenna Milas (5) and Dana Demmert (3) led the Meadows' offense set by Marisa Barry (7 assists) and Kim Liwag (4).

Kathleen Stensland served 5 aces for Meadows while Milas had 12 digs. Lindsey Berg and Demmert each had 6 digs.

Lindsay Valentino (4 kills) and Tracy Hefferan (3) led Prospect (4-7, 3-1).

Conant d. Fremd:ΠMichelle Kopecky (12 kills), Katherine Hozian (8) and Mandy Larsen (7) led the attack for host Conant (8-9, 2-2) in a 25-23, 23-25, 25-18 MSL West victory.

Tricia Kutramanes handed out 46 assists while Kopecky added 4 blocks.

Fremd (9-8, 2-2) was paced by Kaitlyn Pascus (13 kills), Stephanie Alesi (7) and Danielle Warner (5). Michelle Gonnella had 31 assists.

Palatine d. Hoffman Estates: Palatine (1-11, 1-3) earned its first win of the season with a 25-21, 26-24 triumph.

The host Hawks (5-12, 0-4) were led on attack by Altrese Hawkins (5 kills), Ashley Chervinko (3) and Alex Wulbecker (2).

Hersey d. Elk Grove: Lauren Dembkowski collected 13 kills, 16 digs and 3 blocks as visiting Hersey (12-5, 3-1) posted a 25-20, 25-22 MSL East victory.

Shelly Mueller handed out 20 assists and also had 4 kills while McKenzie Forbes also had 4 and Katie Lill 3.

Elk Grove (10-7, 2-2) was led on attack by Krystina Leazer (9 kills), Katie Loos (8) and Michelle Johnson (3). Its top diggers were Megan Maize (11), Katie Spychala (9) and Caitlin Garrison (8).

Wheeling d. Buffalo Grove: The host Wildcats (7-10, 1-3) posted a 25-23, 25-19 MSL East victory as Lidia Villalobos (7 kills) and Carly Speidel (6) led the attack set by Janelle Schroeder 17 assists).

BG (2-12, 0-4) was paced by Lauren Angotti (4 kills), Emily Nowicki (3) and Jillian Kazmierczak (2) while setter Jaclyn Sisi had 5 assists.