Suddenly, MSL West victories suit Conant
Within a period of 24 hours, Conant's girls volleyball ended the first round of Mid-Suburban West action and started the second.
And the Cougars did it with style, gaining their first two victories in league play.
After a three-game victory over Barrington on Tuesday, the Cougars came back and made things a little easier on themselves Wednesday night with a two-game victory over visiting Palatine 25-19, 25-15.
The Cougars had already split a pair of three-game matches with Palatine earlier in the season. In each of those contest, the Pirates won Game 1.
This time, the Cougars carried their momentum over from the night before and jumped ahead in the opener.
Allie Bauch served the Cougars to a 9-5 lead with 3 straight points and the Cougars never looked back.
Chelsea Vanicek's kill off a set from classmate Kaitlin Chiero made it 11-6 and the hosts were on their way to their seventh win in 19 matches, improving to 2-4 in the MSL West. Palatine is 7-7 and 2-4.
"We are looking forward to the second round," said Vanicek, the Cougars' captain and 6-foot senior outside hitter. "We are just all together and we don't let down. This was amazing. I'm very proud of my team.
"Winning the night before helped a lot. We just kept our energy up from that win."
Wednesday's win also included 4 kills and 4 blocks from 5-foot-10 freshman middle hitter Jennifer Donnell, 12 digs from junior libero Rachael Yordon and 15 assists and 8 digs from senior setter Chiero.
Bauch and senior middle Kelly Anderson each served an ace while Samantha Armando was 7-of-7 serving.
"Our middles are really stepping up," Vanicek added. "We are doing everything right. Our communication right now is top-notch."
Cougars coach Peggy Scholten praise her team's execution and sharp transition game.
"It was a great effort," she said. "Both our middles (Anderson and Donnell) did a great job of neutralizing their attack.
"The girls go through a tough conditioning regimen throughout the season and I think that showed."
The Cougars showed they weren't going to be denied in Game 2 when they rolled to a 19-10 lead, getting points 15 through 19 with Chiero (13-of-13) at the service line. She also made a nice save of a ball during that streak and got it to Donnell in the middle for a kill.
Yordon also made a nifty back-pedaling dig during that streak off a sharp Pirate attack.
"Their libero (Yordon) made some ridiculous digs on balls we hit over and we didn't make adjustments," said Pirates coach Dan Gavin, whose team will play at the Prospect Invite Saturday.
"I thought our serve receive (Gabby Mattes, Casey Dolen, Kelsey Batz and Kaley Siewarski) was as good as its been all season. It was just the rest of our game that got away."
Sierawski led the Pirates with 7 kills while Batz and Amanda Hilmer each had 5, Joanne Jablonski and Heather Suiter each recorded 4 blocks while Batz and Sierawski had 1 apiece.
"We made 28 errors, and when 50 points is going to win the match, you aren't going to win that way," Gavin added. "Give Conant credit. They did a great job of keeping the ball in play.
"We were our own worst enemy a lot of times. We're playing more against ourselves than the other teams and that's tough. Sometimes it can be insurmountable."
Hersey d. Deerfield: Visiting Hersey improved to 16-3 with a 25-19, 23-25, 25-20 nonconference victory as junior Kelsey Haas (12 kills), senior Christine Solans (12 kills), senior Alexa Stedman (9 kills), junior Kristen Pedersen (6 kills) and junior Maggie Hogen (3 kills) led the Huskies' attack.
Sophomore setter Abby Fesl handed out 39 assist while Jenni Mueller had 23 digs. Fesl had 10 while Taylor Schill and Danielle Perkins each added 7.
"I thought Deerfield's serve receive was good, they have a real nice setter, a nice middle and the rest of the team plays smart," said Huskies coach Nancy Lill. "I thought our seniors really stepped up and provided us some important leadership when we needed it."