Wildcats soar to crown at Crosstown
All year, Libertyville volleyball has used strong defense, serving and all-around team play to build one of the school's best seasons in recent memory.
That same formula worked expertly in the annual Crosstown Classic, with the Wildcats notching 3 victories Friday, then knocking off Antioch 25-19, 25-23 and Stevenson 25-16, 23-25, 25-21 on Saturday.
In the process, the Wildcats (29-6) won the tournament for the second consecutive season.
"How could you not be proud of them right now?" said Wildcats coach Chris Trzyna. "Considering everything we had to put together for this weekend, it proved once again that when you really play hard and are determined to go for something, whatever team's on the floor can win it.
"We always like to defend our home court, and we really stepped it up. Even in crucial and crisis times in the matches today, we found a way to make something good happen and continue to press forward."
Libertyville did that in the tournament championship against Stevenson, going the entire three-game match without a single service error.
"We've been working on our service in practice, and it's definitely a key part of our game," Libertyville senior Ali Haws said. "Because if you miss a serve during a match, that can really change the momentum and the emotions of the players. So we really try to get our serves in, and we're pretty good at it."
The Wildcats cruised through the first game, taking the lead at 6-5 and never trailing again. They led late in the second game as well, including at 18-13, but the Patriots (24-9) began to shift the momentum.
After getting the ball back on a lift from Libertyville, Stevenson got 4 service points from Kelly Hall and some well-placed tips by its front line to tie the game at 18-18.
Libertyville pulled ahead again, going up by 3 late on one of 4 aces in the match by Haws. But a series of late Wildcats errors let Stevenson back into a tie, and a block kill by Amanda Fleischman forced a third game.
In that contest, Libertyville again got off to a big lead, using service runs by Dani Kopera and Haws to go from up 15-9 to 24-14.
At that point, Stevenson got a sideout on a tip by Fleischman. Hannah Burke responded by serving 7 points -- including 2 aces -- while Fleischman delivered 3 late kills to bring the Patriots back to within 3. But after a long volley, Libertyville finally won when a hard hit from Leigha Bystol hit off a Stevenson defender.
"Winning this tournament feels amazing," Haws said. "We started a little rocky yesterday, but we really focused in today. Knowing we're playing teams like Antioch and Stevenson -- big rivals in our conference -- we knew we'd have to crack down and do well."
Libertyville missed only 2 serves against the Sequoits. The Wildcats never trailed in the first game, and they held off a late Antioch run in the second. Even with senior libero Emma Melendez away on a college visit, Libertyville received great play from its defense, which allowed it to hold an Antioch team with some strong hitters to only 9 total kills in the match.
"Our back row really played great," Trzyna said. "JC (Jenny Caren) stepped into libero today and did a great job all over the floor. Amber Bryant's always been solid, and Dani helps us out wherever she can. They all contributed in different ways out on the floor, and I'm very proud of what we did defensively."
Stevenson advanced to the final with a 25-12, 11-25, 25-23 semifinal win against Lake Zurich earlier in the day. The Patriots led the third game 13-8 before the Bears managed to chip away, forcing a point-for-point game. A Michelle Fleishman kill ended a long point to put the Patriots up 24-22 and, after a Lake Zurich block kill, Amanda Fleischman drove a hard hit that the Bears blocked wide.
"The girls had some energy to spare in that match; they were still serving aggressively and able to keep their focus," Stevenson coach Tim Crow said. "We had a couple things go our way and we were able to feed off that momentum and finish the job, which was great to see.
"Unfortunately, the energy and type of play from the Lake Zurich match did not carry over into the next match against another very good team. When you don't play well against a team like Libertyville, you're not going to win. I was disappointed with our inability to execute offensively and put the ball away, and Libertyville did a great job."