Vikings strong fourth at Early Bird Classic
Even though they lost their two matches at Saturday's Early Bird Classic, Fremd's volleyball players were far from despair.
Consider the following:
The Vikings, who notched fourth place in the 16-team tourney, were playing in the championship round for the first time since early this decade.
One of their losses came to the state's top-ranked and defending Class 4A champ St. Charles East, which ended up second to tourney champ Wheaton St. Francis.
The other setback was to perennial Wisconsin power Milwaukee Pius XI, the defending big-school state runner-up coached by Dave Scher, who is 789-151 in 22 seasons.
St. Charles defeated the Vikings 25-19, 25-16 in the semifinals and the Lady Popes posted a 17-25, 26-24, 25-19 triumph over Fremd for third.
"We are very very happy with how we played," said Vikings junior setter Kayla Price, who is being recruited by some Division I programs.
"It's the first time we made the championship bracket in a long time and our energy level was very high. We cheered on everyone a lot and we all get along very well. We played great as a team."
Price played a great tourney for the Vikes (5-2), handing out 90 assists in the five matches (wins over Lake Zurich, Woodstock and Palatine on Friday).
She connected with a handful of attackers, including Alex Messner (34 kills), Colleen Andersen (30), Tess Dinterman (16) and Elizabeth Dotson (12).
"They're all great hitters on this team," Price said. "I know if I set them the ball they will put it down."
Price's setting did not go unnoticed by Scher, whose team (10-6) defeated Schaumburg for third place in last year's Early Bird.
"Fremd is a nice team and I love their setter," Scher said. "She is very hard to read, mixes it up well and has great hands."
Price got the ball to Messner quite often at the end of Game 1 against Pius. Messner had 4 kills in Fremd's final 5 points.
But the Lady Popes pulled out a tight Game 2, then jumped ahead 5-2 in Game 3 and never looked back.
Sophomore Jordan Winkler led Pius with 11 kills while junior Molly Sydnor had 10. Soph setter Kaitlyn Bohan handed out 17 assists.
"We didn't do a good job blocking in the first game," Scher said. "We improved in the next two. We really enjoy coming to this tournament (22 years under Scher). It's well-run and great competition."
Dotson led the Vikings with 8 blocks, followed by Dinterman (7) Andersen (5) and Price (4).
Price led Fremd with 9 aces.
"Kayla did an outstanding job," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley. "She is definitely going to be the person who leads us in terms of the position she plays and the team is beginning to respond to her."
Dinterman and Lena Brottman, the team's two varsity softball players, led the defense with 32 and 22 digs respectively.
Conant (4-3) took ninth place and Elk Grove (4-3) was 10th in the 16-team event.
The Cougars were led on attack by Chelsea Vanicek (23 kills), Allie Bauch (15), Antoinette Schiffer (12), Kristin Perschon (12) and Antonia Jones (11).
Senior setter Marne Wiklanski handed out 58 assists.
Jessica Condon collected 53 assists and Jessica Mueller had 31 for Elk Grove which was led on attack by Leah Miller (26 kills) and Amanda Gattone (19).
Senior Lauren LaMasse put down 18 kills for Hoffman Estates while Emily Young had 32 for Schaumburg (2-5).
Rolling Meadows was led by Jackie Rosinski (20 kills) and Kelly Adair (15).
Jacobs tourney: With Katie Lill and Joanna Hoffman being selected to the all-tourney and Becca Haraf setting a single-match school record 30 digs along the way, Hersey finished with a 4-1 record.
Through tiebreaker rules (game percentage), Hersey placed third behind Cary-Grove and Waukesha Memorial Catholic. They also had 4-1 records.
"It was a great tournament for us," said Huskies coach Nancy Lill, whose team defeated Waukesha in three games. "I thought we finished the tournament great (win over Waukesha, which defeated Cary-Grove) and got a taste of what we are capable of doing."
Lill led the attack with 40 kills, followed by Maddie Swan (28), Jamie Welter (23) and Christina Solans (15). Hoffman had 14 kills and handed out 106 assists.
Lill put down a career-high 16 kills against Waukesha while Haraf had her school record 30 digs. Also, Hoffman had 37 assists in that match.
"It was nice to see Katie step up in that match," said Nancy Lill. "Everyone played well. Maddie and Jamie were both on against Waukesha."
New Trier tourney: Wheeling (2-3 in the tourney) defeated Maine West (26-24, 25-17) and Regina (25-17, 25-21) on Saturday.
Top attackers for the Wildcats in the five-match tourney were Bianca Szafarowicz (31 kills), Kelsie Jurik (22 kills), Kayla Jordan (17 kills) and Stephanie Kuzmanic (16).
Maria Rozo led the Maine West attack with 17 kills, followed by Coleen Finnander and Stephanie Chalko with 6 apiece.
"I'm still adjusting the lineup to find the one that's most competitive," said Warriors coach Randy Tiller, whose team is 0-8. "Finnander and Katie Fitzgerald are learning the system quickly and becoming consistent contributors."