Crafty Adair makes Meadows a winner

For the first time in her varsity girls volleyball career, Rolling Meadows' Kelly Adair put down the match winner.

And what a crafty attack it was by the 5-foot-8 senior.

After driving bullets down the line nearly the whole match, Adair took a perfect 15-foot set from senior Emily Nelms and aimed for the middle of the floor with a little less force on the ball than she had been using.

It fell to floor for a team-high seventh kill and gave the Mustangs a dramatic 25-20, 21-25, 25-22 victory at Buffalo Grove in the Mid-Suburban East match.

The two teams traded momentum shifts all evening and the Mustangs managed to pull it out at the end.

A perfectly-placed tip by BG senior Kelly Sommers brought the Bison to within 22-20 in the third game. Meadows went ahead 23-20 on a net call on BG.

The visitors got to match point on a service point by Samantha Rosinski (14-of-15 serving).

Junior Alanna Zawlocki (match-high 8 kills) then blocked an overpass to get the Bison to within 24-22 before Adair came up with match winner.

"In the timeout, coach (Janet Opels) said they (BG) were moving toward the line and getting that covered," Adair said. "So I went the other way and it was a real good set from Emily."

"That was very smart shot by Kelly," Opels said. "She had been burning them by hitting deep down the line the whole match, so she actually mixed it up and went middle and took something off it."

Leading 20-19 in Game 1, Meadows (3-10, 2-3) scored 5 of the final 6 points. Adair had 2 kills, 1 by blocking an overpass during that streak, which ended on a hitting error by BG.

The Bison fought back to win Game 2 as senior Angie Lombardo (11-for-12, 1 ace) helped bring her team back from a 21-16 deficit. The senior served the final 8 points of the game.

Zawlocki had 3 kills during that streak and Lombardo had an ace.

Bison junior Jessica Ray also enjoyed a solid serving match, going 14 of 16 with 2 aces.

"I thought we played really hard," Ray said. "Unfortunately, we lost the match. We battled the whole way. We just couldn't finish at the end."

"That's what we got to work on - finishing," said Bison coach Marianne O'Shea. "It's those last couple of points. We had a ton of 25-23 games."

Stacey Jorda added 6 kills for the Bison (4-14, 0-5) while Alyssa Feld added 4. Alexa Barrowman led the defense with 9 digs, while Sommers (10 assists) and Sam McCormack (9) shared the setting duties.

Samantha and Jackie Rosinski each had 11 digs to pace the Meadows' defense, while Rene Pollinetz had 8. Veronica Dobrowski added a pair of kills for the Mustangs.

"This was a good win for us," Opels said. "We battled through some tough stretches. Our serve receive was a little stronger than it has been, so that helped. I'm very pleased with how we are making progress. This was kind of a nice way to end the first round."

Hersey d. Prospect: Hersey wrapped up the first half of its MSL East schedule at 5-0 with a 25-11, 25-23 victory over Prospect.

Katie Lill, who helped spark the second-game win, finished with a match-high 9 kills, while Maddie Swan had 8 and Joanna Hoffman 5. Hoffman also handed out 22 assists for the Huskies (17-1).

Becca Haraf collected 8 digs to lead Hersey's defense.

Prospect (7-5, 3-2) was led on attack by Sarah Hunt (5 kills) and Rachel Hunt (4). Danielle Siwik (7 assists) and Abby Homuth (6) set the Knights' offense.

Schaumburg d. Conant: Emily Young (10 kills, 16 assists, 6 digs), Sara Travis (8 kills) and Alyssa Saklak (6 kills, 6 digs) helped lead Schaumburg (6-11, 2-3) to a 25-20, 23-25, 25-18 victory over Conant (5-7, 1-4).

Jenny Dolan collected 10 digs for the winners, while Rachel Stuehm and Rebecca Thompson each had 3 kills.

Fremd d. Hoffman Estates: Alex Messner (7 kills), Tess Dinterman (4 kills) and Colleen Andersen (2 kills) led the Fremd attack in a 26-24, 25-12 victory, which left the Vikings (13-5) in first place with a 4-1 record in the MSL West.

Kayla Price distributed 15 assists for Fremd, while Lena Brottman collected 8 digs and Messner 5.

Allison Grzesik and Brottman each served 3 aces while Price had 2.

Elk Grove d. Wheeling: Leah Miller (12 kills), Jessica Condon (5) and Tara Braceros (4) led the attack for Elk Grove (12-6, 4-1) in a 25-18, 23-25, 25-16 MSL East victory over Wheeling.

Olivia Roback had 19 digs and Amanda Gattone served 5 aces for the Grens, who received 25 assists from Condon.

Wheeling (4-8, 1-4) was paced by Bianca Szafarowicz and Kellie Kuzmanic, who each had 6 kills.

Barrington d. Palatine: Tanya Mookerji collected 6 aces and 12 digs and Madison Lang had 24 assists for Barrrington (3-9, 2-3) in a 25-15, 19-25, 25-23 MSL West victory. Peyton Lang (9 kills), Emily Harris (5) and Annabel Perry (4) led the Fillies over the Pirates (5-7, 3-2).

St. Viator d. Providence: St. Viator (14-2, 3-0) earned a 25-13, 25-16 East Suburban Catholic Conference victory as Carlyn Clevenger handed out 12 assists for an offense led by Emily Leazer (5 kills), Christina Brinkman (5 kills), Kelly Travalgio (3 kills) and Mary Calov (2). Leazer served 3 aces and teammate Stephanie Rountree 2.