Lake County/girls volleyball rap
Call it a win-win for Libertyville’s girls volleyball team Wednesday night.
Julie Smagatz and Ali Gattone pounded 9 and 8 kills, respectively, and Cindy Zhou had 19 assists, 4 kills and 3 blocks, as the Wildcats outlasted visiting Mundelein 25-18, 21-25, 25-11 in their “Volley For The Cure” match.
“Over $3,700 was raised at the gate,” Libertyville coach Greg Loika reported. “That total, coupled with expected fundraising pledges from the LHS players, could lead to a total donation over $10,000, which would be a real pleasure and really a tribute to the tireless work of our parents and players over the past month.
“It also really highlights the generosity of people and the communities of Libertyville and Mundelein,” Loika added. “In a time of economic hardship, it’s so great to see people give to such a worthy cause.”
Loika got into the act, too, winning the 50/50 raffle and pledging the entire amount to the cause. One of the JV officials donated her game paycheck, “which was really moving and generous,” Loika said.
On the court, Libertyville improved to 21-6 and 3-1 in the North Suburban Lake Division. The Wildcats received other contributions from Kristen Webb (12 digs, 2 kills, 2 aces), Taylor Zant (4 kills), Nicole Kruckman (3 kills), Eileen Knauff (11 digs) and Rhiannon Prentiss (6 digs, 1 kill, q ace).
“The events of the night can sometimes be a distraction, but we played well in sets 1 and 3,” Loika said. “I thought we had a bit of a hiccup in the second and got away from our game plan a bit, but the girls regrouped to finish the match strong.”
Mundelein (11-10, 3-3) received 8 kills from Brittany Busscher and seven from Courtney Perreault. Karen Chin (11 assists), Ashley Dolin and Madi Wilcox each served 2 aces.
Antioch d. Round Lake: Leah Pranke had 8 kills, and Jessica Ploss added six, as the Sequoits improved to 14-7 and 4-0 in the North Suburban Prairie Division with a 25-21, 25-22 win.
Marissa Grant distributed 21 assists for Antioch, while her sister Brianna had 4 kills and 4 aces. Samantha Falco chipped in 3 kills.
“Tough match against a very scrappy defensive team,” Antioch coach Glen Heitman said. “Our defense did a nice job of picking up their tips and dumps to the corners.”
Round Lake got 12 and 11 digs, respectively, from Sara Plasencia and Cathy Gonzales. Dominique Gonzales had 3 blocks and 2 kills, and Bianca Duna served 10 of 11 with 1 ace and set 25 of 25.
Lake Forest d. Stevenson: The Patriots suffered their first loss in the North Suburban Lake, as the Scouts won 25-14, 25-15.
Stevenson (21-6, 3-1) got 3 kills from Jenna Radtke. Lake Forest limited Rachel Baader (14-of-15 hitting) to 2 kills and Liza Pflugradt (11 of 12) to one.
Warren d. Zion-Benton: Stephanie Karlovics served 12 of 12 with 2 aces and collected 4 kills and 6 “awesome” blocks, coach Julie Filippo said, as the Blue Devils won 23-25, 26-24, 25-14 for their first win in North Suburban Lake action.
Warren also got solid contributions from Libby Perrone (55-of-55 setting, 5 assists, 3 kills), Jaime Dickinson (3 kills, 3 blocks), Rachel Ziegler (60-of-60 setting, 12 assists, 4 kills, 13-of-13 serving, 1 ace), Paige Jespersen (4 kills) and Kendall Farmer (6 blocks, 91 percent serve-receive average).
Wauconda d. North Chicago: Megan Tallman totaled 6 kills, 11 assists and 4 aces, and the Bulldogs won 25-16, 25-7 in North Suburban Prairie action.
Ava Wilhelm added 3 kills for Wauconda (14-8, 3-2).
Vernon Hills d. Grant: Megan Meline and Rachel Lira slammed 7 kills apiece, and Jenn Claussen had five, as the Cougars won 25-7, 25-19 to remain tied for first place in the North Suburban Prairie with Antioch.
Vernon Hills (17-10, 4-0) also received 2 aces apiece from Meline, Christie Currie and Claussen. Sarah Lehman set 41 of 42 with 19 assists.