Wauconda creates school history with regional crown
Wauconda's girls volleyball team made some school history Saturday.
The Bulldogs captured their first regional championship by outlasting Vernon Hills 25-22, 26-24 at Senn High School in Chicago.
Maddie Westman pounded 13 kills for Wauconda (23-13), which secured a berth in Tuesday's 6 p.m. Class 3A sectional semifinal at Vernon Hills against Crystal Lake Central.
Bulldogs coach Jonathan Grandt said Megan Tallman did a great job of controlling the tempo of the match, as the freshman lofted 17 assists, while also chipping in 3 kills and 2 aces.
Erinn Hellweg also played big at the net for Wauconda, recording 5 blocks, and Ali Morrison added three. Stephanie Olson had 5 kills and was 12-of-12 serving. Michelle Waltenburg posted 9 digs and served 10 of 10.
Vernon Hills (22-14) was led by Nora Snyder's 10 kills. Alana Coy set 58 of 58 with 18 assists.
"We had six great seniors who put it all out on the court and just fell a little bit short today," Cougars coach Abbie Gutzmer said. "They've played tough all year and that was not any different today. Wauconda just had a bit more than us."
Vernon Hills will graduate Snyder, Coy, Amy Choi, Alex Larson, Chloe Hough and Brigid Walsh.
Mundelein d. Lake Forest: At Lake Forest, the fifth-seeded Mustangs captured the Class 4A regional crown thanks to a 25-17, 25-21 win over the fourth-seeded Scouts.
Mundelein (27-9) advances to Tuesday's 6 p.m. sectional semifinal at Stevenson against Hersey.
The Mustangs' Brittany Jones and Megan Barron each had 5 kills, while Michelle Parssinen added 3 kills and 5 blocks. Kelsey Sullivan was 45-of-45 setting with 15 assists and 8-of-8 digging.
Prairie Ridge d. Antioch: At Antioch, the Wolves won the Class 3A regional championship 25-8, 25-18.
Brianna Grant had 3 kills and 2 blocks for Antioch, which finishes 21-16. Amber Dalgaard recorded 13 digs.
"We lost to a very good team," Sequoits coach Glen Heitman said. "We competed and played with heart and desire. That's all any coach can ask for. We had a good season with a great group of young ladies."
Fremd d. Carmel: When it came to crunch time, Fremd's Tess Dinterman was big time.
After her girls volleyball team lost Game 2 of the Palatine Class 4A regional final by 13 points, Dinterman came up with the best effort of her high school career and helped lead the No. 6-seeded Vikings to a 25-15, 12-25, 25-12 victory over No. 14 Carmel.
Dinterman put down Fremd's first 5 kills of the decisive game and also served for 3 points as the Vikes built a 14-4 lead and never looked back to become the school's first girls volleyball team to win three consecutive regional crowns.
"Tess Dinterman may have played the best single game that I've ever seen from a Fremd volleyball player," said Vikings veteran coach Curt Pinley. "She was unbelievable. They had no answer for her."
Now the Vikings (25-11) hope to have an answer for No. 2-seeded Lake Zurich when the two teams meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Stevenson sectional semifinal.
Dinterman finished 19-of-19 attacking with 9 kills. The three-sport standout was also 12-of-12 serving with 2 aces and she had 2 blocks.
Her fifth kill of Game 3 - on a quick set from junior Kayla Price (31 assists) made it 7-2.
"All of Kayla's set were perfect," Dinterman said of her big run. "Every single one. I couldn't have done it without those."
"Tess was on a roll," added junior teammate Alex Messner, who finished with 6 kills, 11 digs and 3 blocks.
Senior Colleen Andersen, who has played on all three regional championship teams, added 5 kills along with classmate Elizabeth Dotson.
"That's what we wanted - three (regionals) in a row," Andersen said. "It was a little disappointing to lose Game 2 like we did, but we had a lot of energy for Game 3."
Sophomore Megan Mowery served 3 aces in Game 2 for Carmel and ended up with 5 kills and 13 assists. Junior Hana Turner put down 7 kills for the Corsairs, while senior Sarah Stanton had 3. Sophomore Taylor Roby contributed 3 blocks and 2 aces for Carmel, and junior Karrah Toby had a pair of aces.
"We lost Game 3 the same way we won Game 2," Stanton said. "It was disappointing, but we fought hard all the way to the end. It was an awesome season."
"The difference was that we couldn't adjust to their tips and attacks," said coach Bill Szczesniak, whose Corsairs (16-19) upset No. 3 Libertyville (26-10) on Thursday. "They were very smart in finding the holes in our defense. They played a very smart volleyball match. They kept the pressure on us. They are a good solid team."
In Game 1, Fremd broke a 6-6 tie with 7 straight service points by Price. During the rally, Messner had 2 block kills, and Dotson had a kill.
Senior libero Lena Brottman, who led the defense with 14 digs, later served 6 straight points, including back-to-back aces, for a 20-10 lead.
"We talked before the match about doing something that had never been done at Fremd," Pinley said.
About an hour later, the Vikings did exactly that - winning a third straight regional and seventh in school history.
- John Leusch
Cary-Grove d. Barrington: Cary-Grove played two balanced and highly efficient games against host Barrington in Saturday's girls volleyball regional final.
The Trojans used great serving, passing and a strong block to defeat the Fillies by scores of 25-15 and 25-12.
"It's the best team I've seen in probably three years," Barrington coach Chris Bronke. "(Cary-Grove coach) Patty (Langanis) had those kids ready to play. They had more focus and more execution than I've seen from a girls' high school team in three or four years."
Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Rosch and junior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti routinely blasted Abbey Heredia sets past the Fillies block for kills. And when they weren't doing that, senior Kayla Klinger was giving Barrington fits with her serve.
"I was just serving to seams where people would have harder angles to return," Klinger said. "And I was just mixing it up."
Langanis said her team is starting to put everything together in the postseason.
"All of our hitters were contributing offensively," Langanis said. "We had a good block up tonight. Our serving was really backing us up, and our serve receive was some of the best we've had.
"At this point in the season to see it all come together is definitely exciting."
- John Juettner
St. Viator d. Johnsburg: It took nearly 20 years, but St. Viator has now won two regional girls volleyball championships in a row.
The No. 2 seeded Lions, who notched a 4A regional crown a year ago, added one in Class 3A, delivering a 25-20, 25-16 victory over No. 6 Johnsburg at Regina High School in Wilmette on Saturday night.
Before last year, the Lions had only one regional crown (2005).
St. Viator became the third high school from Arlington Heights to win a regional Saturday. Earlier in the day, Hersey won one in 4A and Christian Liberty Academy earned its first in Class 1A.
"That's awesome," said junior Emily Leazer, who drilled 7 kills and 4 aces. "Obviously, our goal was to get a regional, but we want to try and push a lot farther."
The Lions' (27-9-1) next step will be a sectional semifinal at Vernon Hills on Tuesday at 7 p.m. against Prairie Ridge.
St. Viator and Johnsburg (21-16) battled back and forth for much of the first game until the Lions pulled away.
Trailing 13-11, senior Kelly McConnell (7 kills) served 5 straight points, including Leazer's kill off a 25-foot net set from Mary Calov which made it 16-13.
Leading 21-17, setter Carlyn Clevenger served the Lions to game point, getting a block and kill from Calov and a kill by McConnell for a 24-18 lead.
Johnsburg got to within 24-20 but Clevenger (21 assists, 3 aces) ended the game with a kill of her own.
"We didn't start out real strong but we picked things up and raised our intensity by the end of game," said Calov (2 kills, 1 block).
Senior Stephanie Rountree (8 digs) sparked the Lions' back row with some key digs and serve receives.
"Stephanie did a wonderful job," said Lions coach Charlie Curtin. "She had touches on almost everything."
Game 2 was tied at 6, 8, 9 and 10 before the Lions gradually pulled away.
McConnell's kill and back-to-back aces by Rountree put the Lions ahead 13-10 and they never trailed again.
"Oh my gosh, this is amazing," Rountree said of the back-to-back regional crowns. "I can't even explain it. I'm so glad to be a part of this. And our senior class has been a such a big part of it."
Senior Christina Brinkman added 4 kills and classmate Kelly Travaglio 3.
Leading 20-16, a kill by Leazer started a match-ending 5-0 run. Leazer served the final 4 points, including an ace which ended the match.
"Once I get in a groove serving, it just keeps going," Leazer said. "I was just switching zones (getting her cues from assistant coach Jimmy Neal) and trying to keep the defense off guard."
Johnsburg coach Sue Feely, a former volleyball and softball player for Peggy Scholten and Jerry Cunningham at Conant High School, made no excuses.
"St. Viator is just a better team," she said. "They've got a lot of speed."
Hersey d. Waukegan: The top-seeded Hersey girls volleyball team got off to a slow start against host Waukegan at Saturday's Class 4A regional final.
But after making a few adjustments and getting over early jitters, the Huskies rolled to a 25-21, 25-22 victory over the No. 10 Bulldogs to earn their second straight regional title.
Waukegan's attack was vicious in the early going and the Bulldogs went up 12-8 in the first game. At that point, Hersey (34-3) coach Nancy Lill wisely used a timeout to get her girls back on track.
"She told us to relax and not to worry and just put it in perspective," said senior Katie Lill, the coach's daughter. "Because these games get us really anxious at the end of the season. She really just told us: 'We're Hersey. We can do this.' "