Palatine turns back Round Lake
Coming back was the theme Wednesday night at Palatine in Class 4A girls volleyball regional action.
The Mundelein regional play-in match went to Palatine, which rallied from a first-game loss to win 20-25, 25-22, 28-26.
Keeping with the theme, the Pirates had to curtail strong Panthers rallies in the second two games.
"One down," said Palatine coach Dan Gavin. "At this time of year, it's survive and move on. We definitely didn't play our crispest match. We didn't play as well as we could've. You have to find a way to win this time of year, and that's what the kids did."
In the second two games, steady play allowed the Pirates (11-24) to open up big leads of 21-10 and 17-9. But in both instances, the Panthers bounced right back.
The match finally ended on the service of Palatine's Nikki Linares (2 aces), who scored the game point when a returning kill was stuffed into the net.
"Give a lot of credit to Round Lake," added Gavin. "They never quit. They got down big in the second and third games and they kept scrapping and fighting an competing. They came back and made games of them both times. They made us sweat -- especially in the last one. Good job by them."
Leading Palatine's attack was sophomore middle hitter Hannah Guth, who had 14 kills to go along with 4 blocks.
"They tipped a lot so we had to cover more," Guth said. "We had to step up and rise to the occasion. I had a good game. I had a few more kills. My (team) did really well."
Kara Littwin (8 kills), Kaitlyn Hofeldt (7 kills) and Kate Kleiva (7 kills) all had big games up front for Palatine.
"Our key was to keep trying to execute what we wanted to do," Gavin said. "We want to dictate the terms of a match. We want to run what we want to run and not let the other teams influence what we do."
And in many instances, the Pirates were in control.
Caitlin Carpenter (3 aces, 30 assists), Amalia DeSardi (2 aces), Linares (21 digs) and Hofeldt (2 aces) all had stretches of serves that helped the hosts open up big leads.
It's just that those advantages never stuck.
"It went good but we kind of struggled a bit," Guth said. "It was a little frustrating (losing the lead), but obviously we came back and won. We just came back and did it. We pulled together and played our game."
Behind the hitting of Myra Edwards (14 kills) and Amber Phillips (7 kills, 11 blocks), the Panthers took advantage of plenty of situations at the net.
"We're fighters," said Round Lake coach Amanda Allen. "They fought hard. We had heart.
"We focus on defense all the time and practice just coming from behind. The scoreboard never identifies how good we are -- only the girls can. They don't think about it in a numerical sense."
Brittany Kucia (18 assists, 2 aces), Amber Chayer (18 digs), Karla Muldowney (23 digs) all had strong service runs to reverse big deficits for Round Lake. The Panthers finish the season 9-22.
"As always, (the) season was a learning experience," Allen said. "We almost doubled our wins from last year. We're constantly improving. That's all I can ask for."
No. 15 seed Palatine advances to the regional semifinal against No. 2 Libertyville at 4 p.m. Saturday at Mundelein. In an earlier meeting, the Wildcats beat the Pirates 25-22, 25-22.
"Libertyville's a tough team," Gavin said. "We had them earlier in the year. They have some weapons. They're well coached and always fundamentally sound. We're looking forward to the challenge."