Leyden stays ahead of Fenton
Twice in close games on Monday, Leyden's girls volleyball team found ways to race ahead of Fenton and finish off the Bison in Bensenville.
The Eagles (11-7) won 25-19, 25-16 by keeping their cool and eliminating mistakes made early in both games.
"We play a lot better under pressure," said Leyden's Cheryl Robaczewski, who led the Eagles' late charge to close out the second game. "That's when we tend to play well."
"We've not been able to put ourselves over the top a lot this year, but we've been in a lot of close matches," said Leyden coach Dave Sebald. "We just need a little bit more confidence, a little more experience, and a little more consistency. We're not going to overpower anybody. We just have to play consistently, limit our mistakes, and control the things that we can control."
Fenton (4-12) ran out to a 5-0 lead with Lauren Stanek serving to start the first game, but Leyden answered with a run featuring a trio of aces from Catherine Wojkyla and a Robaczewski kill to take a 6-5 lead.
The game was tied 16-16 when the Eagles outscored the Bison 9 to 3 to win it, getting kills from Wojdyla, Klaudia Susul, and Sonja Filipovic, and an ace from Krysta Mulvey along the way.
"It's all about runs in this game, and we're still learning how to be confident and execute in pressure situations," said Fenton coach Eric Melton. "We're still learning to respond to being pushed back."
Leyden led 11-10 in the second game, and then outscored the Bison 14 to 6 thanks to cleaner play.
"The key was just eliminating errors - mostly hitting errors. We had too many errors at the net, and a lot of outs, so we just had to correct that," said Robaczewski, who played strong in helping to finish off Fenton down the stretch.
"When she was in the front row, the back row was passing the ball well," Sebald said. "Catherine Wojdyla was passing the ball well, and that gave Cheryl a lot of opportunities to hit the ball."
Fenton next heads into a pair of meaningful Metro Suburban Conference games against Ridgewood and Riverside-Brookfield.
"We need to keep improving," Melton said. "We have miscues here and there, and we're learning to run a faster offense. It's been a growing process for us."
"But I thought Lindsay Miller did a nice job for us in the middle tonight. She's been consistently working hard for us, and Joanna Morawa has played well."
St. Francis d. Aurora Central: Meg Vonderhaar had 4 kills, Ashley Torres 6 digs and Kristen Kelsay 11 assists for the Spartans (21-5, 10-0 Suburban Catholic Conference) in a 25-10, 25-9 win over Aurora Central on Monday. St. Francis next plays at Rosary in a big conference showdown Thursday.
Immaculate Conception d. Driscoll: Danielle Remy had 8 kills and 4 blocks for the Knights in a 25-15, 25-17 win over Driscoll. Margaret Ryan added 4 kills and 3 aces and Catherine Guido 17 digs.
Waubonsie Valley d. Addison Trail: Nicole Salmon had 11 kills and Jenna Hotwagner 25 assists for the Warriors (12-8) in a 25-14, 25-15 non-conference win over Addison Trail. Joanna Terry and Tori Boyd each had 4 kills and Giana Casciola 11 digs for Addison Trail (9-15).
Illiana Christian d. Wheaton Academy: Molly McCoy had 5 kills and 9 digs and Kristine Egebrecht 6 kills and 3 blocks for the Warriors (8-11, 4-1 Private School League) in a 25-21, 25-23 loss to Illiana Christian.
St. Edward d. Marian Central: Improving St. Edward (11-10, 8-2) leapt into a tie for second place in the Suburban Catholic Conference Monday night with a 25-22, 19-25, 25-21 win over Marian Central in Woodstock. Margie Haggenjos had 13 digs to lead the Green Wave defense while Kristen Haggenjos added 9 digs, 19 kills and 3 blocks. Katie Yohn had 10 digs, 11 kills, 19 assists and 4 blocks in a another steady all-around game. The Green Wave also got 9 assists from Rachel Varley and 4 kills from Tess Barry.
North Shore Country Day d. FVLA: Sarah Mounger had 8 digs, 5 kills, 2 blocks and 2 assists to lead Fox Valley Lutheran (6-4) in a 25-13, 25-18 loss to North Shore. Tegan Pfortmiller added 4 kills for the Falcons and Yuri Nakamura had 5 assists.