Fremd's just fine with third-place finish

Saturday was a very good day for Fremd's girls volleyball team.

A three-game loss in the semifinals to state power Wheaton St. Francis left the Vikings feeling they had played their best match all season.

A two-game win over perennial Wisconsin power Pius XI in the third-place match win gave the Vikings their best finish in the 16-team tourney since coach Curt Pinley took over the program 13 seasons ago.

Coincidentally, the coach from whom Pinley took over was on hand.

Longtime former Fremd girls volleyball coach Dave Boze is an assistant coach for Hall of Fame coach Peg Kopec's St. Francis squad which won the title with a 25-19, 25-22 triumph over St. Charles East.

The annual 16-team tourney is hosted by Fremd and Conant high schools.

Playing on its homecourt, Fremd just missed upsetting the Spartans in the semifinals.

A kill by senior Alex Messner gave the Vikings (7-1) a 22-21 lead in Game 3.

But Notre Dame recruit Meg Vonderhaar's tip tied the match at 21.

The Spartans (6-0) edged away 24-21 before another kill by Messner and a tip by sophomore Rebecca Clarke made it 24-23.

A hitting error finally gave St. Francis a hard-fought 25-20, 21-25, 25-23 triumph over the defending Mid-Suburban League West champs.

"I think Fremd is an excellent defensive team," said Kopec, a winner of more than 1,000 matches. "They get to everything. When you hit it hard, they pick it up. When you tip, they're right there. They are very scrappy."

Messner, one of two returning starters along with setter Kayla Price, finished the tourney with 51 kills, more than doubling any teammate in that category.

Price collected 109 assists in the five matches from 300 sets.

"I thought Alex played a fantastic tournament," Pinley said of the 2009 all-area selection. "And Kayla (also all-area) did a great job distributing the ball. That combination was huge."

Junior Jessi Wiedemann collected 25 kills in the tourney while Clarke had 24 and served for 14 aces. Senior Rebecca Bagg chipped in 7 aces and sophomore Nina Scott had a pair of aces.

Vikings senior libero Jaimie Groot picked up 27 digs, followed by Bagg's 18 and Scott's 17. Price and Weidemann each had 4 blocks while sophomore Kendall Schoaf had 3.

"People will look at us and see we lost a lot of seniors, and we did lose a lot of great players," said the Wisconisn-Milwaukee bound Price. "But they don't know we have some great sophomores and other underclassmen who are stepping in.

"I thought we played our best match of the season against St Francis. I've never seen a team play so hard and it was a fun match. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

With the young group, Price knows she has to be a leader.

"I was in the same situation before and the seniors were great to me," she said. "We had some butterflies at the start of the match (with St Francis). But that's because we are young. Our underclassmen will just keep getting better and better."

Palatine takes seventh: The Pirates rose to the occasion and posted their best Early Bird finish in coach Dan Gavin's four years as they took seventh place with a 23-25, 25-18, 25-21 victory over Schaumburg.

Palatine senior setter Laura Kluk was solid through the busiest stretch of her high school volleyball career.

The three-sport athlete ran every offensive play for the Pirates (5-3) in five matches (three on Friday and two Saturday).

She was 221-of-227 with 69 assists while also collecting 18 digs, 7 kills, 3 block and 9 aces.

"Our backup setter was ill, so it was the '5-1 Laura offensive show' and she did a great job," Gavin said.

Kluk's top weapons were Jacksonville State-bound and senior Kaley Sierawski (31 kills), junior Amanda Hilmer (23 kills) and senior Kelsey Batz (12 kills).

"We lost so many seniors, it's like a completely whole new team," said Kluk, who also plays basketball and badminton. "Winning this match (over Schaumburg) makes us so much happier because it is a team in our conference and it is a good team. We are pretty much equally-matched so this feels good."

Gavin says his team's success was just a matter of everyone being on the same page.

"They are focusing on what they want to do and cutting down the errors," he said. "Schaumburg is a solid team. You are not going to shut down (USC-bound) Emily Young but I thought we got some good touches and that obviously made things easier on our defense.

"I feel like when we are clicking on all cylinders, we can compete with anyone."

Young led the Saxons in the tourney with 23 kills and 54 assists. The 6-2 senior also had 19 digs, 6 blocks and 7 aces.

Sara Travis put down 17 kills for coach Jeanette's Pancratz's club while Rebecca Thompson and Bria Hailey each had 16. Alyssa Saklak contributed 14.

Ashlee Norris (15 assists) and Meghan Falsey (8 assists) also chipped in setting while Natalie Senecal collected 25 digs.

Elk Grove (2-5) went 2-3 in the tourney, getting wins over Conant and Mundelein.

First-year coach Stephanie Kezios watched Kristen Cetkovic put down 11 kills and Leah Miller make 7 digs in a 25-8, 25-16 win over Mundelein while teammates Jessica Condon served 3 aces and Jessica Balzano collected 6 digs against Conant.

Conant, which defeated Palatine in three games in pool play, was led on attack by senior Chesela Vanicek (28 kills), freshman Jennifer Donnell (12) and senior Kelly Anderson (11). Setter Kaitlin Chiero collected 51 assists for the Cougars (3-5).

Jacobs Invite: Hersey took fifth place as sophomore Abby Fesl and junior Kelsey Haas were named to the all-tourney team.

The Huskies were led on attack by Haas (33 kills), Christine Solans (33) and Alexa Stedman (23) while sophomore setter Fesl handed out 108 assists.

Fesl also made 48 digs in the back row. Jenni Mueller led with 54 digs, followed by Danielle Perkins (51) Taylor Schill 50.

"Overall, we played very well," said Huskies coach Nancy Lill, whose team is 5-3. "It was a good experience-builder for us."

New Trier Invite: Wheeling (6-2) took third place with a 25-23, 16-25, 25-19 victory over Evanston. The Wildcats lost to New Trier in three games in the semifinals.

Taylor Jordan (31 kills), Kellie Kuzmanic (28 kills) and Sarah Hennessy (25 kills) led the attack for Wheeling while Stephanie Fuchs (212-214, 110 assists) set the offense and served 7 aces.

Annette Gorzelany paced the Wildcats' defense with 41 digs followed by Jordan (34) and Fuchs (25). Taylor Schroeder had a team-high 11 aces and Kuzmanic 9.

Maine West (1-4 in the tourney) received a team-high 19 kills by Katie Fiztgerald in two matches on Saturday.

The Warriors' win came Saturday 25-7, 25-17 over Waukegan in a match that they led 16-1 in Game 1.

Colleen Finnander added 9 kills in the two matches while Brianna Stasch had 14 service points and 6 aces for the Warriors (1-5). Kayla Riportella added 5 aces.

"We showed we are fighters," said an encouraged West coach Randy Tiller. "We showed how quick we are in the back row and how capable we are of serving really well. We have much to work to do, but I'm pleased with the girls' efforts in this tournament."