Hersey thinks quick, tops Fremd
Abby Fesl was on her game when her Hersey girls volleyball team opened its 2011 home schedule on Tuesday night.
The 5-foot-10 all-area setter delivered some perfect quick sets to 6-1 junior Erica Hill and 6-1 senior Kristen Pedersen which helped ignite the Hersey offense.
“They were definitely working this match,” said Fesl about the quick 4-foot sets. “We saw it early on so we used it to our advantage.”
And the Huskies gained the advantage on the scoreboard at the end, notching a 25-16, 25-21 triumph over Fremd in the Ken Carter Gymnasium.
“Abby did a really nice job moving the ball,” said Hersey coach Nancy Lill, whose three-time defending Mid-Suburban League champs ran their record to 2-0. “She connected well with Erica (5 kills) and Kristen (match-high 8 kills), who played real well.
“I wasn’t thrilled with how we played overall. I felt we were sloppy at times. But a win is a win and Fremd is always a strong program.”
Set 1 was close most of the way. Fremd led 12-10 with back-to-back aces by freshman middle hitter Lane Hindenburg.
But Hersey drew clear late as junior Allie Mueller served 4 straight points for a 20-14 lead.
Senior Kesley Haas’s kill made it 24-16 and then Fesl ended Set 1 with a beautiful no-look tip over her head.
“Our win against at Libertyville (last week) gave us confidence,” said Fesl, whose sister Megan, a former Daily Herald all-area honorary captain and scholarship player at Notre Dame, was in attendance. “We’ve been working real hard in practice and it paid off.”
Fremd (1-1) worked hard to rally from 7-3 and 10-5 deficits in Set 2 to close to within 11-10 on a kill by junior Rebecca Clarke (team-high 5 kills).
Fesl’s quick set to Pedersen made it 24-18.
Fremd answered with junior Marilyn Lortz (13 assist) connecting on a quick set to junior Claire Brady, who smashed the ball to the ground.
“We had flashes of what we can be,” said Fremd coach Curt Pinley. “We just need the rest for the season to make that happen.”
Fittingly, the match ended on another quick set from Fesl to Pedersen, who slammed it to the middle of the floor.
“Overall, I thought we played well,” Pinley added. “We played well in Set 1 up to 15th point, then a lot of own mistakes hurt us. We hung in there in Set 2.
“We have a lot of inexperienced varsity players but I thought we handled things well for our a match against an intense team like Hersey.”
Junior Nicole Obos (19-of-20 serve receiving) added 3 kills for Fremd and Jessi Wiedemannn 2. Nina Scott (4 digs) and Hindenburg (2) helped on defense.
“Fremd has a lot of girls back from last year who are emerging into good players.” Lill said.
Taylor Schill (13 digs), Haas (7) and Fesl (6) helped spark the Huskies’ defense.
“We were struggling a little but we picked it up at the end,” said Haas, who had 3 kills while fellow outside hitter Maggie Hogen put down 5. “We’ve been connecting well. We’ve just got little things to work out and then we can be even better.”
Schaumburg d. Wheeling: Kelly Koutnik (11 kills), Kiana Lewis (7), Allison McGinn (5) and Bria Hailey (4) led the attack for Schaumburg in its season-opening 25-10, 21-25, 125-15 win at Wheeling.
Sam Mellert had 16 assists and Megan Falsey added 12 for coach Jeanette Pancratz, whose 2008 team was the last to win the Mid-Suburban before Hersey’s three straight crowns.
Senior Kellie Kuzmanic led Wheeling (0-2) with 4 kills. 7 digs and 2 aces. Teammate Sydney Keith added 2 kills for the Wildcats while Sara Kern had 2 aces and Emma Jensen 1.
Barrington defeats Buffalo Grove: Barrington improved to 3-0 with a 25-14, 25-16 triumph at Buffalo Grove.
Peyton Lang (6 kills), Olivia Szuzkiewicz (6 kills) and Lauren Shectman (5 kills) led the Fillies’ attack.
Shectman also chipped in 3 blocks while Julia Thompson had one.
Setter Lauren Dunseith handed out 16 assists. Lang (3 aces), Emily Casaletto (3 aces) and Natasha Singh (2 aces) paced the Fillies’ service game.
Top diggers for the Fillies were Suszkiewicz (14), Casaletto (6) and Dee (5).
Junior Mary Zawlocki led BG (2-5) with 4 kills while Liz Tiedje added 3. Bailey North and Alaina Murphy each had 2.
Victoria Ito collected 8 digs while Kathy Hampton had 5 setting assists.
Palatine d. Rolling Meadows: Senior Amanda Hilmer (7 kills) led the Palatine attack in a season-opening 26-24, 25-23 triumph at Rolling Meadows.
Setter Laura Kluk handed out 11 assists with 4 aces, 6 digs and 3 blocks for the winners while teammates Casey Dolen collected 10 digs and Saarh Schiffner (8).
Prospect d. Hoffman Estates: Junior Lauren Yearian (6 kills), senior Maura Benson (3 kills) and senior Sage Rebecca (4) led the attack for Prospect (1-1) in a 25-13, 25-10 over visiting Hoffman Estates.
Setter Danielle Siwick handed out 12 assists while Shea Gallus added 5.
Annie Geweniger collected 14 digs for the Knights while Colleen Chuipek had 6.
Destinée Young and Becca Stoczynski each had 5 kills for Hoffman (1-1) while Becky Knapik added 3.
Teammates Karina Zolp added 10 assists and Ali Engelhardt 5.
Conant d. Elk Grove: Hall of Fame Conant coach Peggy Scholten got the first win of her 35th season as the Cougars (1-1) stopped host Elk Grove 25-21, 25-22.
Allie Bauch (4 kills), Jenn Donnell (3), Sam Armando (2) and Michelle Lauterbach (2) led the Cougars’ attack set by sophomore Taylor Bogacz (5 assists) and junior Taylor Levitt (4 assists).
Conant senior Rachael Yordon was 19-of-20 on serve receive and collected 10 digs.
Mallorie Dewitt (6 kills, 2 aces) and Diamond Boyd (5 kills) led the attack for Elk Grove (1-1).
Senior defensive specialist Kelly Spychala was 17-of-17 serve receiving with 12 digs.
Morgan Park Academy d. Christian Liberty Academy: Morgan Park recorded a 25-21, 25-9 triumph over Christian Liberty, which was led by Beth Cunningham’s 3 kills.