Vernon Hills puts it away

For the first game and part of the second Wednesday, Vernon Hills and Mundelein were locked in a close, point-for-point contest.

But about halfway through Game 2, the Cougars put together the kind of run that had eluded both teams earlier, finding spots with their offense and digging well to extend key rallies. Vernon Hills made those adjustments last in a come-from-behind road victory, winning 22-25, 25-15, 25-12.

"In the first game, we made a few mental errors and missed a few serves at crucial times," Vernon Hills coach Abbie Gutzmer said. "But we got our focus back in Games 2 and 3.

"Our passing was excellent tonight. When we do that, we can set our hitters. And when our passing's on, we look really, really good. The same thing when we play scrappy defense, and we also did that tonight."

The Cougars (12-7-1) led 16-15 in the first game when the Mustangs (7-12) made their move. Vernon Hills tipped a hard hit from Katie Randau (14-of-18 hitting, 6 kills) backward, and the Mustangs soon went up 20-17 on a serve by Jennifer Davis (10-of-10) that the Cougars returned long. The Cougars committed 3 key hitting errors down the stretch, and Mundelein took the game on a tip kill from Michelle Parssinen (16-of-20, 4 kills).

But Vernon Hills cut down its errors dramatically the rest of the match, and ran its offense smoothly. Tied at 9 in the second game, they scored 5 in a row with Amy Choi serving, and went up 19-11 on back-to-back kills from Rachael Ramsey (19-of-19, 7 kills). The Cougars scored the game's final points on a kill from Caitlin McKenna (16-of-18, 6 kills), a serve from Choi that Mundelein set wide, and a hard-hit kill from middle hitter Brianna Skeens (19-of-22, 10 kills).

"We always tell our hitters we want them to try swinging away," Gutzmer said. "But if the set's off or the pass is off, we still need our middles to run. Bree does an excellent job knowing when to swing away and when to put the ball into a spot."

The Cougars took control early in the decided game, using a run of 8 service points from Sarah Milligan (12-of-13) -- including 4 aces -- to build a 16-5 advantage. Mundelein only got as close as 9 the rest of the way, and Skeens served the final 3 points to finish the match.

"Our serve receive just broke down," Mustangs coach George Dressen said. "And defensively, we started pinching in trying to take away tips and not playing our perimeter. We were just leaving that open. We tried to make the adjustment; we talked about it every time we were in the huddle. But the girls still got caught coming in and expecting a tip every time and leaving the corners open.

"You have to hand it to Vernon Hills. They were very confident and aggressive tonight, and they did a good job finding holes in the defense. They played a great game."

Randau and Megan Barron (13-of-18) led the Mustangs with 6 kills each.

Kelsey Sullivan set 79-of-80 with a season-high 20 assists. And as a team, the Mustangs missed only 1 serve in the match, though they struggled with placement.

"We were very consistent in our serving, but we didn't place the ball well on the court either," Dressen said. "It's one thing to be able to serve the ball, but another to try placing it so you can get a free ball or an ace or get a weaker offense being run back at you."

For Vernon Hills, Megan Kubacki had a team-high 14 digs, while McKenna and Kelsey Guglielmi had 11 each. Guglielmi also set 79-of-80 with 30 assists.

"She's starting to feel more comfortable in that role," Gutzmer said.

"Being a defensive specialist last year, she didn't get many reps. Now that we're 20 games into the season, she's found that niche. She knows where to go when we need a kill, she knows who to set, and she's become a very smart player."