Hawks grab 1st win of season

After winning its first game against Addison Trail on Wednesday, Bartlett's girls volleyball team built leads of 6-0 and 17-10 in the second game, only to see the Blazers storm back.

A little composure was needed, and the Hawks found it.

"The key was just focus, believing in each other, and coming together," said Hawks coach Brandon Mueller. "There's some character shown there, and they came together and got it done."

Bartlett (1-1) won 25-15 and 25-23 in Addison, weathering a comeback that gave the Blazers a 19-18 lead in the second game. The Hawks went up 22-20 after a pair of Carly Sahagian kills, and 23-20 on an Emily Hayes kill before closing out the game.

"When they're pushing, we've got to push twice as hard back at them," said Sahagian, who led the Hawks with 8 kills and 6 digs on the night.

Coming off a loss in three games on Tuesday, the Blazers (0-2) showed similar gutsy play on Wednesday.

"They had the same fire yesterday against St. Charles North," Blazers coach Jill Petrbok said of her girls. "I'm proud of them. The qualities (to win) are there, and I just have to dig them out."

Bartlett led 10-9 in the night's first game before going on a 15-6 run for the win. That surge hinged on one element.

"Our serving," Mueller said. "They gave us a lot of free balls, which made it easier for us to keep it in our system, and we had all three options - left, middle, and right -- and our girls put the ball away."

"We started to play as a team, and when we do that and use that energy, things work out for us," Sahagian said.

The Hawks lost in three sets to Hoffman Estates on Tuesday, winning the first game before losing a pair of 25-23 games to lose the match. On Wednesday, they found a way to win a hard-fought second game and walk away with the match.

"I'm happy with everybody, especially Stephanie Sliwa, who's playing our right back today," Mueller said. "She dug plenty of balls for us and kept us in the system."

"Carly and Emily hit very well - and I thought Jacki Gulczynski played really well on the right side."

Alyssa Cazzato also posted 23 assists for the Hawks. "She set a lot better and a lot more consistent today," Mueller said. "I don't think she was as nervous today as yesterday."

Addison Trail got 9 kills from Andrea Aue, 11 digs from Nikki Zdrahel, and 5 kills, 4 blocks, and 7 assists from Casey D'Ambrose. "And I thought Robin Hart came up with some really big plays for us," Petrbok said.