Barrington works for its win against Prospect
Barrington senior libero Tanja Mookerji said her girls volleyball team has plenty of work left to prepare for its next match.
That will be a date with Jacobs a week from Thursday in the Fillies' own Class AA regional opener.
The Filllies sure worked quite proficiently in their final regular-season match on Tuesday against visiting Prospect.
Led on attack by junior Annabel Perry (7 kills), junior Madison Lang (5 kills), freshman Julia Thompson (4 kills) and senior Emily Harris (4 kills), Barrington posted a 25-16, 26-24 triumph in the Mid-Suburban League second-place crossover match.
"It was nice to end the regular season with a win but we're looking ahead to our regional and we want to go as far as we can," said the scrappy 5-foot-6 Mookerji (10 digs), who has collected 20 or more digs in 8 matches this fall. "We are committed to preparing for the state tournament."
The first game was close until Thompson served 5 straight points to give the hosts a 21-14 lead. A beautiful fake set and tip by Lang (18 assists, 2 blocks) ended the game at 25-16.
The Fillies (15-19) jumped ahead 21-12 in Game 2 but Prospect (18-12) produced a valiant comeback and tied the game at 23 on a service point by senior libero Maureen O'Keefe (10 digs).
"I don't think we got nervous (when Prospect was rallying)," said Harris, who also collected 10 digs, 5 aces and 2 blocks. "It just really pumped us up and motivated us to win even more."
"This was the first time Emily played all-around since our fifth match of the season and she did a great job," said Fillies coach Chris Bronke. "Emily was the absolute example of a senior leader."
Rachel Hunt (2 blocks) played a key part in Prospect's big Game 2 comeback as she served the Knights from a 22-14 deficit to within 22-21. She began and ended her run with aces. For the match, she was 10-of-10 with 2 aces.
Mariel Sobey led Prospect with 5 kills while Sarah Hunt had 3 kills along with 3 blocks. Danielle Siwik (9 assists) and Abby Homuth (4) directed the offense.
"We should not have been in that situation where we had to come from so far behind in Game 2," said Knights coach Mike Riedy. "We played horribly. It was embarrassing. Barrington did a great job exploiting our weaknesses. I thought Mariel Sobey had a pretty good second game. She started putting the ball away and was probably our only consistent hitter."
Wheeling d. Hoffman Estates: Wheeling improved to 10-25 with the 28-26, 15-25, 26-23 victory at Hoffman. The Hawks were led by Lauren LaMasse (12 kills), Jada Stotts (9) and Stephanie Schwarz (8), who collected 23 assists.
Conant d. Buffalo Grove: Buffalo Grove was led by Alyssa Feld (6 kills), Stacey Jorda (5) and Alanna Zawlocki (4) in a 25-17, 30-28 victory at Conant (13-16). Sam McCormack (8 assists) and Kelly Sommers (8) directed the attack while Feld and Bailey North each had a pair of blocks.
Schaumburg d. Rolling Meadows: Emily Young collected a match-high 16 kills, 12 assists and was 7-of-7 serve receiving with 2 digs to help lead Schaumburg to a 25-27, 25-19, 25-22 victory. Alyssa Saklak added 9 kills and Sara Travis 7 for the host Saxons (13-21).
Rolling Meadows (12-22) was led by Samantha Rosinski (8 kills), Jackie Rosinski (8 kills) and Kelly Adair (5) while Emily Nelms handed out 19 assists.
Palatine d Elk Grove: Host Palatine posted a 25-21, 12-25, 25-22 victory in the third-place MSL crossover. The Grenadiers 18-12 were paced on attack by Melanie Jarosz (9 kills) while Jessica Condon handed out 21 assists and also collected 6 kills, 1 block and 3 aces. Olivia Roback (14 digs, 13-of-13 serve receiving) and Amanda Gattone each served 4 aces while Tara Braceros had 2.
St. Viator d. St Joseph: Visiting St. Viator (26-9-1, 7-3)) completed its winningest regular season in school history with a 25-15, 25-13 victory to finish in fourth place in the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
Senior Kelly McConnell not only led the Lions with 9 kills (14-of-14) but she also set the single-season record for blocks as she collected 4, which gives her 73 for the season. She broke the record of 70 set by Christine Desmond in 2004.
Setter Carlyn Clevenger (46-of-48) handed out 24 assists as other main beneficiaries were seniors Emily Leazer (8-8 3 kills), Christina Brinkman (12-14, 8 kills), Mary Calov (6-7, 4 kills) and Kelly Travaglio (8-8, 4 kills).