Lake Forest edges Libertyville

Libertyville’s excellent libero Kristen Webb registered 11 digs in North Suburban Lake girls volleyball action Wednesday night in Lake Forest.

One, especially, stood out.

The junior sat on the floor and actually made contact with a volleyball.

“I tried to keep it up by punching it,’’ Webb said. “I was in the right spot.”

Two teams that have combined for 44 wins this season met on the home floor of the Scouts. And at least on this night, Lake Forest (top seed in the Buffalo Grove sectional) and Libertyville (No. 4 seed), proved there wasn’t much difference between these two successful clubs. The Scouts (23-3) edged Libertyville 25-23, 26-24.

“Libertyville’s floor game is phenomenal,’’ said Lake Forest coach Ray Werner. “Their whole back row played really well.”

In the end, the Wildcats (21-7) had no answers for the power hitting of Lake Forest senior Tori Lanzilotti (17 kills).

“Lake Forest is a very good team,’’ said Libertyville coach Greg Loika. “They have some quality weapons.”

The Wildcats actually surged ahead in set one. Following a Nicole Kruckman block, it was 8-5 Libertyville. And then Pittsburgh-bound Mary Striedl went into serve. She fired off an ace and aided by a Lanzilotti kill, the Scouts took a lead they would not surrender.

Webb’s brilliant save in Set 1 was accented by a kill by Ali Gattone. A Kerry Risley kill knotted the first set at 21-21.

“Kerry has been really steady,’’ Loika said. “She’s become really involved in our offense.”

Lake Forest had the quick start in Set 2. Setter Heidi Sierks (31 assists) fed Striedl for consecutive kills as the Scouts surged to a 4-1 lead. When Risley went into her second serve, the set was knotted at 16-16.

“This wasn’t our best match,’’ Werner said. “We made a lot of mistakes. But I am proud of how the girls responded.”

The hitting of Julia Smagacz kept the Wildcats close in Set 2. The junior paced the Wildcats offense with 6 kills.

“We were right there,’’ Loika said. “Our girls aren’t hanging their heads after this one.”

Webb was clearly in good spirits following this match.

“They (Lake Forest) runs a really nice offense,’’ Webb said. “But we were very competitive. We were really prepared for them. There were no surprises.”

Streidl helped the Scouts with 7 kills and 4 aces. Carolyn Hopfinger had 5 kills for Lake Forest.

Gattone and Risley had 4 kills each for the Wildcats and Taylor Zant had 3.