Girls volleyball: Hersey turns the tables on Buffalo Grove
When it comes to winning girls volleyball regionals, no Mid-Suburban League team does it better than Hersey.
The Huskies avenged a two-set loss three weeks ago to Buffalo Grove by defeating the Bison 25-18, 25-23 on Thursday night in the Class 4A Hoffman Estates regional final.
It was Hersey's 26th regional crown in school history (no other MSL team has more than 16), all coming under coach Nancy Lill, whose first was in 1987.
The No. 4 seeded Huskies (28-9) advance to Monday's Loyola sectional where they will face the host and top-seeded Ramblers in the 5:30 p.m. semifinal.
No. 5 Buffalo Grove finished its first 20-plus winning season in coach Matt Priban's seven years at 21-12 and with its first MSL East division title since 1976.
"That's one heck of a team," Lill said of the Bison, who shared the MSL East crown with Hersey as both teams went 9-1 and split two conference matches. " They gave everything they had. They stuck with it to the finish, fighting point after point. They didn't give up."
Neither team led by more than 2 points in the first set until Hersey inched ahead 16-13 on an ace by Kati Kaburov, following consecutive back row kills by the junior standout.
"That was a great match," said Kaburov, a Boston College recruit. "Twenty six regionals is amazing but I'm not thinking about it the during the match.
"I'm just looking at my teammates and what's happening on the court. Even if everyone is cheering, I just kind of zone right into the game."
Kaburov was in her usual zone on offense, putting down a match-high 16 kills, including a handful from the back row.
"We all really had heart, we were all in it, to win it, and we all played as a team," said Kaburov, who was also a part of the Huskies' regional championship in 2016 as a freshman.
Kaiya Eshoo (5 kills) set the Huskies' attack with 24 assists. Juliette van den Herik added 6 kills, followed by Alessia Olhava (3) and Janine Boyan (2).
Kate Lubbe's bump kill ended the match.
Maddie Mullen collected 22 digs in the back row.
"For a sophomore, she had the match of her life," Lill said. " I told her before the match to be fearless, and she was.
"We ran our game plan to a tee. We played a great match across the board. Our middles were effective and we were smart with our hits."
Top hitter for BG was Claire Ferriss (13 kills). Lauren Horvath added 4 while Maggie Streckert collected 20 assists, 7 digs and 4 blocks. Nina Masciopinto collected 10 digs and Abby Kim had 2 blocks.
"I thought the girls had a lot of success this season," Priban said. "We just fell a little short tonight. It was a back-and-forth match and they did a really nice job.
"We're definitely going to miss our seniors. They brought a lot. I always tell these girls that I judge classes based on the legacy they leave. And this group of seniors took this program to another level. They had amazing character, work ethic, fun and personality. They brought it every day. I'm really proud of them and going to miss them."