Christian Liberty looking to make history

Playing its first game in an Illinois High School Association girls volleyball match, Christian Liberty defeated (Evanston) Roycemore 25-16, 25-9 on Wednesday night in a semifinal of the North Shore Country Day Class 1A regional in Wilmette.

The private Arlington Heights school, whose building formerly served as Arlington High School until 1984, is a first-year member of the IHSA.

The Chargers (15-13) drew the top seed in the seven-team regional and will play for the championship on Saturday at 1 p.m.

"We're really excited about that, especially since we have a chance to win the first regional in our school history," said senior Taylor White, who contributed 11 kills and 10 digs against Roycemore.

Senior Amy Farmer, the only other returning starter for the Chargers, enjoyed one of her finest matches. She recorded career-high 4 blocks and 6 aces, while also putting down 4 kills with 6 digs.

"We had really consistent serves," White added "We didn't miss many at all. And our attitude was positive the whole match so that helped."

Junior Annie Salsgiver added 4 kills and 2 blocks for the winners while junior Holly Swidereck collected 6 digs and 2 kills.

Junior Cammie Kott (12 assists) and sophomore Jayna Rowland (10) directed the 6-2 offense.

"We served well tonight," said Chargers coach Natalie Salsgiver. "It was quite exciting because this is a whole new beginning for us. We made history by winning our first regional match and hopefully we can make more by winning a first regional on Saturday."

The Chargers will face the school which advances out of tonight's bracket featuring No. 2 North Shore Country Day (Winnetka), No. 7 Islamic Foundation (Villa Park), No. 3 Waldorf (Chicago) and No. 6 Chicagoland Jewish (Deerfield).

"This has really been a good season for us since we are so young." said Natalie Salsgiver, whose only starting seniors are White and Farmer. "We are looking forward to next season. But first, we want to go out with a bang this season."