Schill, Hersey able to shoot down Stevenson

With her Hersey girls volleyball team down 24-22 to Stevenson in Game 2, sophomore Taylor Schill jumped off the bench and trotted onto the floor to serve.

"At our last timeout, I told the girls 'it's easy to come back,' " said Hersey coach Nancy Lill. "I said the pressure was on them. Let's close it out."

Schill took those words to heart.

The back-row specialist, using a deep floater toward the seam of the Pats' defense, closed out the match as Hersey pulled out a 25-18, 26-24 nonconference victory in the Ken Carter Gymnasium.

"I said to myself just one at a time," said the poised varsity rookie Schill. "I was nervous. But I knew I had to get them in for us to win the match. There was so much pressure."

A block by senior Alexa Stedman (4 kills) made it 24-23, and a Stevenson hitting error tied it 24-24 when Patriots coach Tim Crow called for a timeout.

Schill came back on the floor just as effective and wrapped up Hersey's seventh win in 10 matches when Christine Solans put a kill through a double block followed by a hitting error by Stevenson (6-4).

"That serve (deep floater) is definitely my most efficient," said Schill, who was 11-for-12 serving for the match.

"Taylor has nerves of steel," Lill said. "She's a tough cookie. She has been playing awesome for us all season. We have such sound defense. Our coverage was incredible tonight."

Huskies senior libero Jenni Mueller collected a career-high 18 digs. Schill had 13, followed by Solans (11), Danielle Perkins (9) and Abby Fesl (8) - who handed out 28 assists while making some nice hustling sets.

The Huskies (7-3) were down 13-6 and 21-17 in Game 2.

"It's good that we came back because it shows us for the rest of the season that we can come through if we keep pushing," Mueller said. "Stevenson has some real good hitters. I play club with some of them so I've practiced with them."

Game 1 was close most of the way. The Huskies took the lead for good at 8-7 on an ace by Stedman and pulled away at the end getting the final 2 points with Mueller at the service line.

Solans and Kelsey Haas each had 8 kills to lead Hersey, while Kristen Pedersen had 6 along with 2 blocks.

"Stevenson is an excellent team for 6-4," Lill said. "They have played a lot of good competition. I think they are one of the best teams in the area, for sure. We are thrilled with the victory."

Crow was not thrilled with his team's focus in Game 2.

"We just fell apart," he said. "We have been having this problem of losing our focus. I've seen in it practice, too. In our last three matches we've had a good lead in Game 2 and then lost in a tight game at the end."

Carlee Berland (8 of 9) led the Pats with 5 kills. The 5-foot-11 senior middle hitter also a solo block with 3 assists.

"Carlee did a nice job on the block," Crow said. "She had a lot of touches, too, to slow down the ball for our defense."

Libero Nicole Duszczyk sparked the back row with 18 digs, while Kurth had 6.

Setter Jenna Przybyla (18 of 19) collected 12 assists, while teammate Carolyn McDonough (20 of 21) had 9.

Elk Grove d. Maine West: Diamond Boyd put down 7 kills and Jessica Condon added 5 with 13 assists and 5 digs as the Grens (3-6) won the nonconference match 25-10, 25-22. Jessica Bolzano had a team-high 9 digs and 4 aces for the winners, while teammate Leah Miller was 9-of-10 serve receiving.

Maine West (1-7) was led on attack by Katie Fitzgerald (3 kills), Caitlin Walsh (2 kills) and Colleen Finnander (2 kills).

Libertyville d. Rolling Meadows: Libertyville posted a 25-13, 25-18 nonconference victory over the Mustangs (2-8), who were led on attack by Emily Haeger (5 kills), Veronica Dabrowski (4 kills) and Rachel Mickey (3).