D-C able to get by Sabres
There will be mistakes to be corrected and execution to be improved on.
But when the last volleyball was spiked Dundee-Crown had earned a come-from behind 19-25, 26-24, 25-12 victory over Streamwood in a non-conference game in Carpentersville Wednesday night. It was the season opener for both teams.
"We have a lot of work to do," said Dundee-Crown coach Tracy Williams. "I have high expectations and we made way too many mistakes even for a first match. We had way too many serving errors and way too many hitting errors. We have a very young team and I have to be patient with this group."
Streamwood, which won the first game, was 1 point away from winning the match in Game 2.
Maxine Andren slammed down a kill to give the Sabres a 24-23 lead. But the Chargers refused to quit. A pair of kills by Stephanie Thorson and a game-winning kill by Marissa Peterson gave the Chargers the win and tied the match at one game each.
The momentum D-C gained from winning Game 2 carried over to the third game.
Holding a slim 11-8 lead, the Chargers grabbed control of the third game with 7 consecutive points. Thorson collected 3 kills and served 2 aces as Dundee-Crown opened up a comfortable 18-8 advantage. D-C's biggest lead was 15, 24-9 after a kill by Alyssa Sarrazine. The Chargers claimed the game and match on a kill by Thorson.
Thorson, the lone returning starter for D-C, led the Chargers with 13 kills and 3 aces.
"We showed a lot of nerves in the first 2 games," said Thorson. "Winning that second game gave us a lot of momentum going into the third game. We started being more aggressive and started attacking that third game. I am the only starter back and I have to be a leader by example."
Sarrazine added 6 kills for the Chargers.
Betsy Holman paced the Sabres with 7 kills while Melissa Oehlerking picked up 6 kills.
"We lost our chance to win the second game and the match and the momentum switched in the third game," said Streamwood coach Kevin Kwon. "Overall, we did some great things tonight. I was very pleased with the effort. The girls knew they made some communication mistakes. But we can fix those mistakes."
Girls volleyball
St. Charles East d. Larkin: If the first match of the season for the St. Charles East girls volleyball team went just OK, the second can easily be called great.
The Saints made a huge turnaround from Tuesday to Wednesday, as they opened the Upstate Eight Conference schedule with a 25-8, 25-9 win over Larkin at St. Charles East.
With the win, the Saints are 2-0 after topping nonconference Wheaton North in two games on the road Tuesday. Larkin's match with the Saints was its first outing of the season.
"We are really happy with the way we played tonight," Saints junior Caroline Niski said. "I think we did awesome. This is such an adjustment. We have so many new people, but we are playing awesome together. It's a lot to look forward to. We are really excited for the season."
"Much better than last night (against Wheaton North)," St. Charles East coach Jennie Kull said. "Our ball control was better, our focus was better and of course we are in our own gym. I saw a lot more things I was pleased with (against Larkin) than I did (against Wheaton North). They were more competitive and they communicated more."
In Game 1, the Saints scored five consecutive points early and never let Larkin in the game. They scored 5 of the last 6 points, as Olivia Desormey's kill was the final point. Larkin finished wityh 13 errors in the first game.
Larkin made less mistakes in the second game, but St. Charles East's balanced attack started to show. Five different players recorded at least one kill, but the highlight of Game 2 was Niski's serving. In one stretch of five consecutive points, she recorded 3 aces. She ended with with a game-high 4 aces.
The final point of the match was on a Larkin net violation.
"We had the momentum on our side the whole time," Niski said. "We were really excited. When we get fired up, it's always good to have that energy on our side."
St. Charles East's stats were spread out, as Haley Streich, Niski, Samantha Szarmach and Jacqui Seidel each recorded 5 kills. Maisey Mulvey led the way in digs with 7, Streich and Laura Homann each posted 4 blocks with Homann finishing with 24 assists.
Jessica Harris and Amanda Lye each finished with a pair of kills to lead Larkin.
"It's tough, but we'll get there," Larkin coach Gail Johnson said. "Serve-receive was a little shaky today...our goal is to get more touches on the ball, get our passes up and everything is going to pull together."
- Christine Bolin
Hampshire d. Rockford Lutheran: The Whip Purs (1-0) came out on top in this home opener against Rockford Lutheran defeating the Crusaders in three games 25-12, 17-25, 25-20. Amy Wehrs led Hampshire with 17 kills and Kara Wehrs posted 22 assists with 8 kills while teammate Chessa Osiecki recorded 16 digs. Jen Hubbe contributed to the victory with 6 kills. "It was our first game so it was nice to get that first game out of the way with a win," said Hampshire coach Karen Whitehouse.
St. Edward d. Aurora Central Catholic: Katie Yohn and Tess Berry led St. Edward with 5 kills each to push the Green Wave (1-0) past Aurora Central Catholic 25-8, 25-16 in the Suburban Catholic Conference. Kristen Haggenjos (4 kills) and Sarah Norman (3 kills) each contributed at the net. Rachel Varley tallied 8 assists while teamate Katie Aleyelo added 7 digs to help lead St. Edward to victory.