Rams, Sequoits to meet for title

The last time the Grayslake Central volleyball team won a regional title?

You would have to go all the way back to 1992.

Some players on the current team were not born yet, and coach Jason Janczak was a freshman at Prospect and a member of the junior varsity volleyball team.

Fast forward to the present, and the Rams are just 1 victory away from that elusive regional title. Grayslake Central's 25-18, 25-5 victory over Grayslake North in a regional semifinal Thursday at Lakes sets up a showdown for the regional title at 5 p.m. Saturday against Antioch.

"We've been working on this forever and it's finally here," senior Tory Dohm said. "It's exciting knowing we have one common goal and the team to be able to do it."

Grayslake Central (16-16) defeated Antioch (11-25) twice in the regular season, although both matches were very competitive.

Grayslake North (4-32) made sure the first game would be competitive against the Rams. Sparked by the play of freshman middle blocker Kinsey Siler, the Knights made a strong comeback.

Trailing 16-11, Siler came through with her first block. She followed that with another kill and a block to help the Knights climb to within 17-16. The last point of this run came on a powerful ace by junior Sarah Walker.

Siler was called up to the varsity just before the midway point of the season.

"This was one of her better matches," coach Nikki Kirchway said. "It's her second year playing volleyball, and she's just an athlete. When you tell her one thing she does it right way. She's a quick learner."

There would be no comeback for Grayslake North in the second game. The Rams raced to leads of 10-0 and 18-2. Senior Shannon Curtis was at the service line for the first 10 points.

"I knew it was a big run, and I was just focused on keeping it going," Curtis said.

Janczak was encouraged with the way the Rams played at the end of the first game and throughout the second.

"They gave us a scare, but we were able to put the foot on the gas," he said.

Grayslake North played without senior Kaitlyn Klausner, who missed the match with an eye injury.

Walker and Siler had 3 and 2 kills, respectively. Senior Taylor York contributed 3 assists.

Dohm finished with a match-high 8 kills and 4 blocks. Senior Amber Benko had 3 kills. Sophomore setter Emily Anderson had 9 assists.

Now, the Rams can turn their exclusive focus to the goal they have had in the back of their minds the whole season.

"We knew we had something going at the end of last year," Janczak said. "This has been a special group of seniors. They really believe they can do it."

Antioch d. Lakes

The Antioch volleyball team knows it played inconsistently throughout the regular season.

The beauty of the playoffs is that it affords a new start. And the Sequoits took full advantage of that opportunity Thursday in a regional semifinal at Lakes.

Antioch's 25-13, 23-25, 25-21 victory over Lakes advances the Sequoits into a regional final at 5 p.m. Saturday against Grayslake Central.

"We know it's a new season," senior Martha Arntson said. "We've know we can play and win against good teams."

Antioch (11-25) made life easy on setters Savana Bailey and Kendall Padgett in the opening game.

"Our serve-receive was awesome," coach Glen Heitman said. "We passed the ball so well and our setters didn't have to run to the ball."

Lakes (10-22) looked like a different team the rest of the way.

"For whatever reason, it takes us a game to be aggressive," Eagles coach Carla Thompson said.

Lakes led 23-16 before Antioch mounted a comeback and closed to 24-23. The Eagles finished off the game on a kill by junior middle blocker Mandy Fischer. Fischer finished with a match-high 5 blocks.

"We lack the killer instinct to finish teams off," Heitman said.

As the Sequoits gathered up before taking the court for the third game, they knew an attitude adjustment was in order.

"We played with no emotion in the second game," senior Anne Bruce said. "We (needed) to raise our intensity. We had worked for this and wanted to keep it going."

Antioch took immediate control in the third game. The Sequoits led 5-0 and that early margin helped them overcome a late charge by Lakes.

"We let them get too far ahead," Thompson said.

Lakes sophomore Kailey Molloy (4 assists) was recently called up from the sophomore team, and she played well in her first start at setter.

Junior Jenna Schellinger (4 kills) and senior Steffanie Fisher (2 kills) led Lakes' attack. Fisher also had 6 assists.

Antioch junior Lauren Grant had a match-high 8 kills. Arntson (6 kills) and senior Megan Vladic (5 kills) figured prominently in the Sequoits' attack. Bailey had 15 assists.

Junior Chelsey Retzlaff (4 kills) had one of her better matches of the season.

"She had a great game," Heitman said. "She hit the ball well and made a big difference."