Larkin notches win in season-opener

Brad Potts is entering his third season on the Larkin boys volleyball team so it's no surprise that he will get most of the sets early on this season.

Potts led the Royals with 7 kills Monday evening as Larkin beat Willowbrook, 25-19, 25-19, in both teams' season-opening match in Elgin

"He has a bit more experience under his belt than the other players," first-year Royals coach Henry Graack said. "In tight situations, we'll definitely be looking his way."

Potts had 3 kills in the opening game, including an back-row kill on game point. In the second game, he added 4 kills.

"I guess you can say that," said Potts about being the key to the Royals' offense. "But we're going to need to spread it out to everyone."

The Warriors scored the first 2 points of the match and led 5-4 before some mistakes became costly as the Royals took a 17-10 lead. Larkin needed three game points to finish off Game 1, which Potts did with a back-row kill.

Trailing 2-1, Larkin went on a 10-0 run. After a Willowbrook service error, the Royals scored 9 points on Alan Rosenburg, most of the points coming on Willowbrook errors. Rosenburg ended the run with an ace as Larkin led 11-2.

"We just got everyone going," Potts said. "We were getting the serves in and keeping the ball in the court."

Three kills by Dan Cash helped the Warriors get within 16-9. Potts had back-to-back aces later in the game to give the Royals a 21-11 lead.

A Willowbrook hitting error ended Game 2 as the Royals took the season-opening match.

Mike Jetel added 4 kills for the Royals. Rosenburg finished with 3 kills. Brendyn Dobbeck had 18 assists.

"They showed up a little rusty. They didn't match too much in the off-season," Graack said. "After the past two or three days, they were really hustling and the hard work paid off."

Brian Ferguson led the Warriors with 4 kills. Eric McCarthy had 8 digs. Howell Adams finished with 8 assists and 5 digs.

"We're very happy about (getting on the court) because it shows us a lot of things that we need to work on," Willowbrook coach Diane Vegter said.

Girls soccer

Dundee-Crown 1, Streamwood 1: Dundee-Crown junior Karen De la Rosa stood in the middle of Millennium Filed not quite sure what to do.

Midway through the second half of her first varsity game, De la Rosa watched as her 42-yard free kick sailed past the Streamwood defense, bounced out of the hands of Sabres' goalie Pearl Patel and into the back of the net.

Almost unaware, the Chargers' midfielder had put in her first varsity goal and tied Dundee-Crown and host Streamwood 1-1.

Despite a late offensive attack from Streamwood, De la Rosa's goal held up as the Chargers and Sabres opened their seasons with a tie.

"I was trying to hit the top left corner," De la Rosa said. "It helped a lot."

Chargers' goalie Deanna Libricz also helped the Chargers.

Streamwood senior Genna Borris looked like she had the go-ahead goal several times in the final 10 minutes. In the game's final 20 seconds, Borris had an open look at the net, but Libricz came up with the save. Libricz had foiled Borris' early attempts when she threw her body in front of a line-drive penalty kick with 5:27 left.

With just under 10 minutes remaining, Borris had another penalty kick opportunity, but again the straight shot was met with Libricz' quick hands.

"Usually during practice, we're not as talkative," Borris said. "It was good that we worked together."

Borris had put Streamwood up 1-0 4 minutes, 7 seconds into the second half when she drove past two different Dundee-Crown defenders and beat Libricz (9 saves) for the goal. Borris' goal came after Streamwood finished with 4 shot attempts in the first half.

"It was a good game," Streamwood coach Matt Polovin said. "We dominated about 90 percent of the game. We knew what we needed to do."

Part of that knowledge came with Streamwood's ability to hold outdoor practice. Dundee-Crown was the original site for Monday's nonconference contest, but poor field conditions forced the game to the turf at Streamwood. Weather had allowed Dundee-Crown to practice outside just 3 times prior to the game.

"We're still trying to figure things out," Dundee-Crown first-year coach Sebastian Falinski said. "It's just our fourth day outside, so I can't complain."

-- Matt Stacionis

Deerfield 6, Jacobs 1:ŒJackie Rosato scored the only Jacobs' goal in this nonconference loss.

Boys volleyball

Schaumburg d. South Elgin: South Elgin lost i's first game of the season against Schaumburg 25-9, 25-15. Andrew Gleason led the Storn offensively with 2 kills. Robbie Vasquez added 4 assists.