Scouting Class 4A Mundelein supersectional
Girls volleyball
Class 4A Mundelein supersectional
Today's match: Fremd (33-6) vs. Evanston (28-10) at 1 p.m.
Players to watch: Fremd: Stephanie Alesia (Sr. OH), Kaitlyn Pascus (Sr. MH), Natalie Bruck (Sr. S), Alex Messner (So. OH), Kayla Price (Jr. S), Sarah Welsh (Sr. L); Evanston: Hannah Folz (Sr. S), Chelsea Lawrence (Sr. MB), Ali Gossen (Jr OH), Maddie Fitzpatrick (So. MB), Megan McCareins (Jr, OH)
Tourney wins: Both teams won invites on Oct 11. Fremd was the champion of the Grayslake North tournament while Evanston won the long-running Glenbrook North invite for the first time in school history. The Wildkits also won the annual New Trier tournament on Sept 16 for the first time.
Coaches corner: Fremd's Curt Pinley has won 511 matches combined as a boys and girls volleyball coach in the Mid-Suburban League. Pinley directed the Vikings to their fourth sectional in six years and their second sectional title in school history. Third-year Wildkits coach Pam MacPherson has led Evanston to a second sectional title in three years. They are the only two in the school's girls volleyball history.
A former three-time all-conference setter for Glenbrook South in the mid-1990s, MacPherson is the wife of Northwestern running backs coach Matt MacPherson.
Back in 1987: Until this year, Fremd had not won a sectional title. Curt Pinley became the first coach to guide the Vikings to a sectional title since Dave Boze's 1987 team, That club, led by all-area standouts Heather Fredin and Chris White, took fourth place in the Class AA state tourney, then held at the Prairie Convention Center in Springfield.
For the record: Fremd's 33 wins have tied the school record for most wins. The 1987 team was 33-7.
Evanston 28 wins are also a school record and the Wildkits, currently 28-10, will finish with their best record in school history. Their previous best was 25-12 in 2006. That was MacPherson's first team.
How they got here: No. 4 seed Fremd defeated No. 2 Hersey for the second time in two weeks in the Barrington sectional title match. Fremd's as 27-25, 19-25, 25-15 victory was led by Stephanie Alesia (13 kills), Alex Messner (11 kills) Natalie Bruck (20 assists) and Kayla Price (19 assists). Kaitlyn Pascus had a big ace and 2 blocks downs the stretch to help the Vikings put the match away.
No. 1 Evanston won the Highland Park sectional crown with a 25-17, 24-26, 25-23 over No. 3 New Trier. Ali Gossen led with Wildkits with 10 kills and McCareins added 6. Hannah Folz collected 26 assists and Fitzpatrick 4 blocks.
The final words: Curt Pinley: "I know Evanston has a real nice right-side lefty (Gossen). That's something we have to look for. They're pretty big inside and their main game is to block. I'm sure they'll be playing some tough defense so we'll have to be ready.
"At this stage, I don't think it's so much coaching as it is more about repetitions and doing the little things we've been doing. We've got to keep focusing and can't be overly concerned about the other team. We've got to worry more about ourselves." Everyone on the floor has stepped us for us in the state tournament and played real well at key moments. I think that is the strength of our team. It has been all season and remains that way." Pam MacPherson:
"I think we'll have to play solid all the way around. At this point, you can't have any down time in the match. You can't afford any lapses. Our middles will have to play strong. We have good one and one good backup. I'm confident in them and we have an extremely strong right side (Gossen). It will be big to go to her." "I know we need to stop their middles. I think our outside and middles will be a great matchup against theirs."
- John Leusch