Antioch wins 37-point battle, but VH wins the war

It looked like Game 2 of the Antioch/Vernon Hills girls volleyball match might never end.

It did, and Antioch captured it, when it notched a 37th point.

But Vernon Hills won the match.

Alisa Welter pounded 16 kills and was 16 of 16 on serve receive, as Vernon Hills won a thrilling North Suburban Prairie opener 25-20, 35-37, 25-14 Tuesday night.

Vernon Hills (4-6) also received solid efforts from Shannon Nugent (8 kills, 5 blocks), Jenn Claussen (6 kills), Sarah Lehman (32 assists), Jasmine Tamalunas (27 assists, 11-of-11 serving) and Julie Pecht (26 digs, 20-of-20 serving, 1 ace).

Antioch (0-5) received 8 kills from Brianna Grant and seven from Jessica Ploss, who also had 3 blocks.

The Sequoits' Amber Dalgaard had 29 digs and served 13 of 15. Lindsey Gofron dished out 11 assists.

Lake Zurich d. Mundelein: A matchup of perennial powers in the North Suburban Conference saw defending NSC champ Lake Zurich defeat host Mundelein 25-11, 25-17 in the Lake Division opener for both teams.

Natalie Gora pounded 6 kills and served 3 aces for Lake Zurich (6-2), while Amanda Orchard added 5 kills, 2 blocks and 3 aces. Dori Darras (4 blocks, 3 kills) and Layne Self (3 blocks, 3 kills) were also effective at the net for the Bears.

LZ setter Alexis Hartman dished out 19 assists on 35-of-35 setting

Mundelein (4-5) got 2 kills apiece from Mackenzie Boich and Ashley Dolin, and 2 blocks from Christine Scott.

Libertyville d. Stevenson: Catie Steffen slammed 11 kills and rang up 3 blocks, as the Wildcats won their North Suburban Lake Division opener 25-17, 26-24 to improve to 6-0 overall.

Paige Hopper added 5 kills for Libertyville and Cindy Zhou set 69 of 69 with 20 assists. Katie Waehner totaled a team-best 5 blocks, and Zhou added three for the Wildcats.

"We blocked extremely well," Libertyville coach Greg Loika said. "I thought we attacked well all along the net, and Cindy Zhou made great decisions with the ball once again."

Stevenson (6-3) trailed 22-18 in Game 2 but rallied to take the lead at 24-22.

But Steffen pounded a kill and Kerry Risley blocked Stevenson's middle attack to tie the score at 24-24.

The match ended on a Stevenson net violation.

Loika credited Kristen Webb (team-best 13 digs) for her defense and passing.

"With Stevenson serving aggressively, I thought her passing was a real key to our offense working well," Loika said.

For Stevenson, Carlee Berland had 5 kills, and Shefali Arora had four. Rachel Baader and Mackenzie Kurth added three apiece.

The Patriots also received 8 setting assists apiece from Carolyn McDonough and Kierstyn Hansen. Baader and Nicole Duszczyk had 9 and 8 digs, respectively. Jenna Przybyla served 2 aces.

Grant d. North Chicago: Stefanie Cahill and Becca McMullin each had 5 kills, as the Bulldogs won their North Suburban Prairie opener 25-10, 25-16.

Cahill also served 5 aces, as did Sarah Berthiaume. Sophia Trbojevich lofted 13 assists on 35-of-35 setting for Grant.

Grayslake North d. Woodstock North: The Knights picked up the win in their Fox Valley Fox opener, as Brianna Leon and Jenni Babula each had 7 kills in a 25-12, 24-26, 25-14 decision.

Grayslake North (2-6, 1-0) also received contributions from Katie McGrath (3 kills, 3 blocks), Kelsey Klausner (2 blocks), Joanna Guhl (4 kills), Melanie Aikin (3 kills), Kayla Huck (12 digs), Raquel Ness (7 digs), Kaitlyn Woodward (9 assists on 27-of-27 setting, 2 aces) and Lauren Trahan (38-of-39 setting, 12 assists).

Johnsburg d. Grayslake Central: Klaudia Basierak had 11 kills and 2 blocks in the Rams' 20-25, 25-16, 25-15 loss in Fox Valley Fox action.

Stephanie Pimpo and Basierak had 23 and 11 digs, respectively, for Grayslake Central (5-4, 0-1). Emily Anderson set 69 of 71 with 18 assists.

"Our defense had a few breakdowns, and Johnsburg did a great job of picking up everything we threw at them," Rams coach Jason Janczak said. "Tonight showed us a lot of what we need to work on defensively, and we're excited to get back in the gym and work on them."

Deerfield d. Lakes: The Eagles dropped the nonconference match 25-19, 25-16.

Lakes (1-3) received 3 kills from Kailey Molloy. Rachel Sieracke and Ashley Sodt each delivered a pair of aces.

Richmond-Burton d. Wauconda: Erinn Hellweg had 7 kills and Cara Nance added five, but the Bulldogs lost 25-12, 25-17 in a nonconference match.

Megan Tallman lofted 11 assists for Wauconda (4-4), while Hellweg also had 10 digs.

Zion-Benton d. Warren: Jaime Dickenson had 5 kills for the Blue Devils in their 25-15, 26-24 loss to the Zee-Bees in a North Suburban Lake opener.

Paige Jesperson had 3 kills for Warren (5-6).

Warren coach Julie Filippo said tough serves from Zion-Benton and poor serve receive from her team kept it from running its offense.