South Elgin gets a regional title shot
The South Elgin girls volleyball team continued its winning streak Tuesday evening.
But one big obstacle stands in the Storm’s way of a potential regional championship.
No. 2 seed South Elgin defeated No. 3 seed Elgin, 25-17, 26-24, in the Class 4A Elgin regional semifinals for its sixth consecutive victory.
“We’ve really been playing together,” Storm coach Joni Plach said. “The girls just don’t want the season to be done. They know the next time they lose, it’s over. They’ve really been playing to win.”
The Storm (13-17) will play top seed DeKalb (27-5), which beat Larkin, 25-8,25-19, in the other semifinal, at 6 p.m. Thursday for the regional championship.
Plach and DeKalb coach Stephanie Gooden are acquaintances from Plach coaching the boys team at South Elgin and Gooden coaching the boys at St. Charles East.
“I respect her. She has turned that program around,” Gooden said. “We’re not taking anybody lightly. I don’t think you can.”
The Storm trailed early in the opening game against No. 3 seed Elgin (6-30). The Maroons led 5-4 before Ashley Oandasan and Ali Osborne combined for block to tie the game at 5-5. That sparked a 6-0 run as South Elgin took control.
A kill from Oandasan, a sophomore, gave the Storm a 19-9 lead. The Maroons saved 4 game points before a service error gave South Elgin the opening game win.
It appeared the Storm would cruise in Game 2 as well, leading17-11 after a Sam Kummerer kill. But Elgin rallied by scoring 7 of the next 8 points to tie the game at 18-18 on a Elyssa Helker kill. The Maroons led 24-22 and were serving to force a third game, but another service error made it 24-23. A kill from Kummerer tied it at 24-24. Oandasan’s eighth kill, a match high, gave the Storm a 25-24 lead and a match point. Kummerer tipped the ball over the block and an Elgin defender was barely able get her hand on the ball, but it went out of play as South Elgin advanced.
“We saw that we were losing and that we needed to come together as a team,” Oandasan said. “I’m pretty proud of the way we did.”
Amanda Nadler added 6 kills for the Storm. Maggie Jakaistis finished with 22 assists and 9 digs. Rachel Murray also had 9 digs to go along with 3 aces.
Monica Stockman led the Maroons with 5 kills. Bree Hamilton added 4 kills.
“We put up a hard fight,” Elgin coach Scott Stewart said. “We came back and had the lead. I’m proud of them.”
In the second semifinal, Larkin looked nervous in the opening game against the Barbs. The fourth-seeded Royals (12-25) scored the first point, but then lost the next 10 and the Game 1 rout was on.
Larkin settled down in the second game and hung tough, trailing by only two as late as 18-16.
Brianna Stewart led the Royals with 5 kills, 3 in the second game. Olivia Kofie had 4 kills, all coming in the second game. Both Brianna Stewart and Kofie are sophomores.
The Royals have increased their win total from two wins two seasons ago to seven last season and 12 this year.
“I will take this as a learning experience for the players who will be back next season,” Royals coach Marcin Dybka said. “Going from two wins to 12, I think is a good progression. We can be a little better next year.”
Emily Bemis, who has committed to the University of Arizona, led the Barbs with 8 kills, 7 digs and 2 blocks. Sophomore Courtney Bemis and senior Jessica Schafer each had 4 kills.