Conant stays firmly on winning trail

The girls on Cougar Trail have found the winning trail.

Conant High School's volleyball team ran its winning streak to five matches with a 4-0 record in its own eight-team invite Saturday.

The Cougars (14-10) were forced to play just one three-game match and that came in its 26-27, 25-10, 15-11 championship triumph over South Elgin (9-12), which went 3-1.

"Yeah, we had to make that last match exciting for the parents and fans," joked Cougars junior setter Tricia Kutramanes, who handed out 68 assists in four matches and put down 8 kills and 3 aces.

Kutramanes launched a perfect 20-foot set to classmate Mandy Larsen, who slammed it to the floor for the 15th and match-winning point against South Elgin, which owned a 2-0 led before falling behind for good at 5-4.

"I thought our defense was really strong and we blocked a ton," said Larsen , who had 22 kills, 6 blocks and 30 digs.

West Virginia-bound Michelle Kopecky led the Cougars with 28 kills and 7 blocks.

"Conant has some pretty heavy hitters," said South Elgin coach Joni Melahn. "That No. 12 (Kopecky) is a nice player. We tried to control her a little more in the last two games."

South Elgin (9-12) was led on attack by sophomore Hayley Bradley (31 kills), sophomore Alyssa Krause (14), junior Tara Bradley (12) and sophomore Amber Schneckie (11).

Tara Bradley, a 5-foot-9 setter, also handed out 48 assists.

"We played some awesome defense," said Melahn, who watched sophomore Sarah Havermann and Tara Bradley each collect 23 digs. "Everyone contributed to this second-place finish. They were all focused and ready to play.

"We had a tough loss to Bartlett on Thursday night so we really had to re-focus for this tournament."

The Storm was focused in Game 1 as it pulled out a 1-point decision (cap was 27).

A kill by junior Genevieve Johnson gave the Storm a 26-25 lead before Kutramanes' dump tied it at 26.

South Elgin then won on a hitting error by Conant.

The Cougars charged back in Game 2, grabbing a 9-3 lead when Kopecky put down a kill. South Elgin never got closer than 5 points.

Junior Katherine Hozian (13 kills, 6 blocks, 25-for-31 serve receiving, 26 digs), served out Game 2 with 6 straight points.

Kopecky had 3 straight kills during the rally while Larsen ended it with a kill.

"We should not have lost Game 1," Kopecky said. "Our defense has been picking up tremendously and that just motivates the offense. And our serving is getting better."

Larsen served 5 aces while Kutramanes, Meghan Melnone, Lisa Parisi and Kopecky each added 3.

"Our learning curve is rising," said Cougars coach Peggy Scholten. "We're playing as a cohesive unit and we're playing team defense."

Lake Forest tournament: Hoffman Estates went 3-2 with wins over Regina, Vernon Hills and Lane Tech.

Ashley Chervinko (27 kills, 14 aces, 56 digs) and Altrese Hawkins (49 kills) were named to the all-tourney team for the Hawks.

Becky Gilbert handed out 50 assist for the Hawks (8-16) while Stephanie Schwarz collected 35.

Megan Bernardoni (15 kills) and Alex Wulbecker (11) also helped spark the attack while sophomore Torrie Raio had 16 digs.