Central beats North in battle of Grayslake

Gabi gabs - with her Grayslake Central volleyball teammate Klaudia Basierak, that is.

"She's like my older sister," freshman Gabi Casper said. "I talk to her all the time."

On Thursday night, Casper, a promising outside hitter, spoke loudly with her play on the court.

Her "big bang of a kill," as her coach Jason Janczak described it, provided the final point in Grayslake Central's 25-13, 28-26 win over its crosstown rival on a "Pack the Place" night at Grayslake North, where some male students from the home side got into the spirit by painting their torsos gold.

"She needed that," Janczak, whose Rams improved to 17-6 overall and 3-3 in the Fox Valley Fox, said of Casper's fifth kill of the match. "We needed that."

Casper has provided a nice complement to Basierak, the Rams' 6-foot junior who leads the team in kills and pounded seven against Grayslake North (4-13, 1-4), despite not having her best performance of the season.

"(Casper) has really been a great addition to our team," Janczak said. "Klaudia kind of sets the tone. It's been great to have a freshman play the other outside-hitting position and to have a role model like Klaudia. Gabi and Klaudia have become really tight."

The 5-8 Casper has shown not only varsity skills but also composure. She was clutch against Grayslake North, delivering kills that twice broke ties late in Game 2, before driving the winner.

"Sometimes the pressure gets to me," Casper said. "But then I just shake it off."

Both teams struggled putting serves in play. Grayslake North missed nine, including six in the second game.

Grayslake Central failed to put seven serves in play in Game 2.

"We had to get our serves in," Casper said.

"When we kept missing them, it made it harder for us to win."

Grayslake North bolted to a 6-0 lead in Game 2 thanks, in part, to Felicia Stancil's 3 aces.

"The second game we started off and we played really well," Knights coach Nikki Kirchway said.

Grayslake North's Kelsey Klausner had 4 kills and 2 blocks. Kayla Huck had 7 digs, and Katie McGrath contributed 3 kills and 6 digs.

"Kelsey Klausner played an outstanding game for us," Kirchway said. "She really stepped it up. She's a sophomore so it was really, really good to have her step it up in that leadership role."

Grayslake Central also got production at the net from Beth Arnold (3 blocks), Allie Black (3 kills) and Hannah Smith (3 kills). Emily Anderson dished out 20 assists on 42-of-42 setting.