Good start for Hawks

After a strong finish to last season and what he called a great summer of hard work by his players, Hoffman Estates girls volleyball coach Dan Hutton is hoping for "good things" this fall.

He sure saw a good start to the Mid-Suburban West season Tuesday night.

In a match that went back and forth all the way with no team ever really gaining a big sway of momentum, the Hawks finally served the knockout punch in Game 3.

Junior Jada Stotts took a set from senior Stephanie Schwarz and put the down the kill off a middle block, giving the Hawks a dramatic 25-22, 25-27, 26-24 victory over Palatine.

"A long, long match," said Schwarz, who is looking at Division I and II schools to play volleyball. "I'm just glad we were able to pull it out. I knew when I got the ball to Jada there at the end she'd put it down."

Stotts finished with 5 kills, behind senior co-captain outside hitters Lauren LaMasse (8 kills) and Kelsey Lukowicz (7).

"It was exciting but we like that," said Stotts, also an all-area basketball player who led the Hawks with 5 blocks. "It was so intense but I wasn't too nervous because I thought all along we could pull it out."

The Hawks (5-4, 1-0) pulled out Game 1 when junior Kelsey Pellus broke a 22-22 tie with 3 straight service points, including an ace.

Palatine (2-6, 0-1) bounced back in the middle game, rallying from a 24-22 deficit. A kill by Allison Richter tied the game at 24.

Moments later, a kill by senior Rachael Houp made it 26-25 before setter Jenny Solberg ended it with an ace.

Game 3 was another back-and-forth gem which was tied at 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 and 24 before the Hawks won on kills by LaMasse and Stotts.

"It was a pretty even match," said Palatine coach Dan Gavin, whose defense was sparked by Kelly Sierawski (12 digs), libero Sydney Wiedemann (11), Gabby Mattes (10) and Mo Brodeur. "I thought all our passers stepped up. Wiedemann was really looking for the ball to be served to her. We challenged the girls to step up in that area and I thought they did a lot better than this past weekend (at the Early Bird Classic).

"Both teams had streaks. And when they got down at times, they always responded positively. The effort was what I was looking for from my girls."

Sierawski led the Pirates with a match-high 13 kills followed by Hannah Guth (5). Solberg, a senior, handed out 15 assists while sophomore Laura Kluk had 13. Kelsey Batz and Guth each served 3 aces.

Hoffman's top server was Pellus, who was 18-of-19 with 4 aces.

"I told the girls the MSL West was going to be a battle all season," Hutton said, "and that we needed to pull this one out to start the season."

Schaumburg d. Barrington: Sophomore Alyssa Saklak put down 9 kills while juniors Emily Young and Rebecca Thompson each added 8 to lead Schaumburg to a 20-25, 25-16, 25-23 triumph in the MSL West. Young also handed out 18 assists for the Saxons (3-5, 1-0).

Brooke Chandor put down 8 kills for Barrington (0-3, 0-1) while Peyton Lang, Julia Thompson and Annabel Perry each had 5. Madison Lang handed out 24 assists

Wheeling d. Buffalo Grove: Bianca Szafarowiz and Kelsie Jurik each had 5 kills while Kayla Jordan and Kellie Kuzmanic added 4 apiece to pace Wheeling to a 25-23, 25-233 triumph. Stephanie Fuchs handed out 12 assist and Samantha Calderon had 6 for the Wildcats (4-4, 1-0). Buffalo Grove (2-6, 0-1) was led by Alysa Feld and Paige Smith with 3 kills apiece while Feld also had 3 blocks.

Hersey d. Elk Grove: Hersey improved to 7-1 and 1-0 in the MSL East with a 25-14, 25-18 triumph behind the balanced attack of Katie Lill (5 kills), Maddie Swan (5), Jamie Welter (5) and setter Joanna Hoffman (3), who collected 18 assists. Christina Solans served for 4 aces.

Elk Grove (4-4, 0-1) was led by Amanda Gattone (6 kills) and Leah Miller (4).

Prospect d. Rolling Meadows: Prospect (2-1, 1-0) received 8 kills from Rachel Hunt and 7 from her sister Sarah in a 25-15, 25-21 triumph. Danielle Siwick and Jordan Bruce each handed out 11 assists for the winners while Meadows (1-7, 0-1) was paced on attack by Kelly Adair's 3 kills.

Fremd d. Conant: Fremd improved to 6-2 and 1-0 in MSL West with a 25-19, 25-16 victory over Conant (4-4-, 0-1).

Alex Messner (12 kills), Elizabeth Dotson (4) and Tess Dinterman (4) led the attack for Fremd while setter Kayla Prince collected 20 assists and Lena Brottman had 7 digs.

St. Viator d. Trinity: Emily Leazer (7 kills) and Christina Brinkman (5) led the attack for St. Viator (6-1) which won 25-11, 25-20 as the Lions hosted "Volley For a Cure" in honor of breast cancer awareness.

The Lions received 19 assists from junior setter Carlyn Clevenger.

"The team played very well together," said St. Viator coach Charlie Curtin. "And it was wonderful to collect money for a great cause."