Hersey moves on
Hersey's girls volleyball team won its Class 4A regional opener after the dinner hour Thursday night.
But the way they did it sounded a little like a breakfast menu.
“We had so many good “ups” and some great pancakes,” said junior Alexa Stedman, who put down 5 kills in the No. 2-seeded Huskies 25-16, 25-18 victory over No. 15 Palatine. “I thought we played awesome defense.”
So did Palatine coach Dan Gavin.
“Hersey played phenomenal defense,” said Gavin, whose team led 3-0 in Game 1. “But I'm so proud of my girls. They played with a terrific amount of heart. I think we gave Hersey a match not too many people would have expected. These girls can walk out with their heads high.”
Hersey coach Nancy Lill, whose team (30-6) advanced to Saturday's 2 p.m. championship match of the Fremd regional against Zion-Benton (24-12), would have agreed with Gavin.
“Palatine (12-22) played phenomenal,” she said. “There were so many great rallies in this match that were unbelievable.
“We'll need our “A” game Saturday. We came out with our ‘B' game this match and we can't do that Saturday.”
Christine Solans also out put down 5 kills for Hersey while Kelsey Haas had 3 and Maggie Hogen 2.
They took their cues from setter Abby Fesl (15 assists). Jenni Mueller led the sparkling defense with 15 digs, followed by Solans (14), Danielle Perkins (13) and Taylor Schill (13).
“Our defense lifted us,” Stedman added.
Jacksonville State recruit Kaley Sierawski (shoulder injury) did not play for Palatine, which was led by Amanda Hilmer (3 kills), Laura Kluk (2 kills, 13 digs, 4 blocks) and Heather Suiter (2 kills, 1 block).
Zion-Benton d. Fremd: In the first semifinal, the No. 7 ZeeBees outlasted the host school 26-24, 23-25, 25-17.
No. 10 Fremd led 10-7 in Game 3 when Wisconsin-Milwaukee recruit Kayla Price tweaked an ankle she had injured earlier in the season.
Price gutted it out to the end, handing out 28 assists. Alex Messner (11 kills), Claire Brady (5) and Jessi Wiedemann (4) led the Vikes' attack.
“I stopped real hard on it (ankle),” said Price, who was noticeably hobbled. “But there was no way I was sitting out, no matter how bad it hurt.
“This was so much fun. Our sophomores did a great job. It was the best I've seen Claire Brady (sophomore middle) hit all season.”
Fremd coach Curt Pinley and his players came away with a satisfied feeling.
“One of the best matches we played all season, period,” said Pinley, whose team (24-11) won hardware in all of its tournaments this fall. “You always want to leave feeling that way and these girls did. Zion just played a little bit better defense than we did.
“When Kayla tweaked her ankle, I thought our girls stepped up with great defense to limit her (Price's) movement.”
Jaimie Groot (20 digs), Messner (5) and Rebecca Bagg (5) sparked the back row.
“It was a great match to go out on,” Messner said. “We just had to keep our energy up. We knew Kayla wasn't going to give up. She's tough.”
“We didn't really do a good job taking advantage with our serve when their setter got hurt,” said Zee Bees coach Jake Carlson. “She is a real nice setter and distributes the ball well.”
Palatine d. Rolling Meadows: The Pirates won 25-13, 25-17 in the play-in match.
Meadows (9-22) was led by sophomores Rachel Mickey (6 kills) and Morgan Keller (3 kills) while freshman Jenny Vliet (8 assists) and Olivia Falk (3 assists) handled the setting chores.
Keller and Mickey also had 3 blocks apiece while Vliet had 2.
“Morgan and Rachel were a blocking wall,” said Mustangs coach Janet Opels.
Amber Beasley (8 digs) and Veronica Drabowski (6) led the back row.
“I'm proud of the girls,” Opels added. “Sometimes we struggled because of our youth but it really stood up tonight. We're excited about having Morgan and Rachel back next season.”
Kluk and Hilmer led Palatine with 7 kills apiece while Suiter had 3.