Lake Forest tops Lakes for North Sububan crown
Exhausted from playing three grueling sets with Lake Forest and, perhaps more so, authoring an improbable journey that saw them land in Wednesday night’s North Suburban Conference championship match, Lakes’ volleyball girls still had a little farther to travel.
With a couple of players disappointed enough to be reduced to tears and others looking on the verge of crying too, coach Molly May quickly ushered her team away from its home court.
Lake Forest had just prevailed 15-25, 27-25, 25-17 in a matchup featuring two teams playing in the NSC title game for the first time in the conference’s 11-year history.
“I took the girls back there and I said, “We have nothing to hang our heads about,’ ” May said. “We did everything that we practiced doing. We played defense like we practiced, taking out their hitters. We executed, especially in that first game. I think we almost shocked ourselves at how well we played.”
A seven-year program that won a school-record 14 matches last season in May’s first as coach, Lakes is 22-8. The Eagles earned a share of their first NSC Prairie Division title with Vernon Hills by beating the Cougars on their home court last Friday. Lakes went 5-0 at Woodstock North over the weekend.
The Eagles then dominated the opening set against the NSC Lake champs.
“Lakes was an amazing team,” Lake Forest setter Heidi Sierks said. “Their floor play was almost impeccable. It was incredible. I think they really surprised us.”
Lake Forest (25-4) staved off defeat by pulling out a tight second set in which Lakes appeared to take a 25-24 lead when a Scout hit the ball into the net. But the officials discussed the play and nullified the point.
“It was an iffy call,” said Lakes junior Emily Aigner, who led the Eagles with 16 kills and 3 aces. “We were right there.”
Lakes got the next point, but Lake Forest secured the next three with Pitt-recruit Mary Striedl ending it with one of her team-high 10 kills.
Lakes jumped out to a 7-2 edge in the decisive set, but a kill by Striedl and block by Tori Lanzillotti (8 kills) stopped the Eagles’ momentum.
“We made a slight defensive adjustment at the net on both of their outside hitters (Aigner and Sarah Horner),” Scouts coach Ray Werner said. “They’re both really explosive out there. It was just a little adjustment that we wanted to make as a group. It turned into digs, it turned into kills, and it turned into blocks.”
Lake Forest limited Aigner to 1 kill in the final set and, led by senior middle blocker Jennifer Kreb, the Scouts posted 5 blocks.
“When we finally started making plays, we got confidence back,” said Sierks, who lofted 25 assists. “When Mary Striedl goes back to the (service) line and she nails it, and we know she’s feeling it, we all feel it. I’m feeling it. And then Meredith (Huszagh), our libero, is like, ‘I’m feeling it.’ We feel the energy. I think our team really relies on that.”
An Aigner ace got Lakes within 24-17, but a botched pass by the Eagles ended it.
Like Aigner, Horner had double-digit kills (11) for the Eagles.
“This year has been crazy,” Aigner said. “This (NSC championship) has been one of our main goals all year. To not achieve it is hard.”
“They wanted it,” May said of her players. “They worked hard to get a name for themselves. No one would have thought that we would make it to the conference championship. This was a big step for Lakes volleyball.”