Girls volleyball: Rolling Meadows clears Hersey hurdle
Rolling Meadows' girls volleyball players had never defeated perennial Mid-Suburban East power Hersey during their careers.
And they had already dropped a three-game match to the defending East champion Huskies at the Peggy Scholten Invite two weeks ago.
But the Mustangs came in with a confident attitude and approach Tuesday night when the two teams met in a MSL East divisional match.
And it paid off handsomely for coach Jack Nickle's girls who posted a 25-22, 25-15 triumph at the Ken Carter Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.
Senior slugger Lucy Pufundt finished in double figures again for kills. Her final blast of the night off a set from Lainey Griffiths resulted in the match-winner that improved the Mustangs to 12-3 and 2-0 in the East.
With the first set tied at 18, the Mustangs took the lead for good on a sideout kill by Dalia Grandberry. Carmen Powers then served three straight points, the final two coming on aces for a 22-18 load.
Hersey (4-7, 1-1) answered with 4 successive points, including kills from Macey Teuscher, Victoria Dubowski and Ola Wydmanski to tie the set at 22.
But the Mustangs countered again and closed out the set with the final 3 points coming on back-to-back kills by Gaby Zielinski and a hitting error by Hersey.
The visitors retained the momentum in the second set as Powers served for the first three points, getting a block by Grandberry and a kill from Bella Zielinski.
Senior Mary Hamann 's block gave the Mustangs a 10-5 lead. A block by Victoria Sulewski got Hersey (4-7, 1-1) to within 11-9.
However, moments later, Pufundt served for 5 straight points. The senior standout had an ace followed by Gaby Zielisnki's kill off a set from Powers for a 15-10 cushion.
"This was awesome," Hamann said about the Mustangs' big win. "I think our passing made a big difference. Overall our energy was a big game-changer. It's great to start the division like this."
"The difference from the first time we lost to them was that this time we didn't play with hesitation," said Mustangs second-year coach Nickle who led the team to 22 wins (7 in MSL East play) last fall.
"We weren't letting things get in our minds and our blocking and passing (libero Jelena Jevtic helps spark the back row) were much improved. We played as a team. We weren't scared of the moment. We went after it and got it."
The Mustangs pushed the lead to 17-10 with back-to-back aces by Pufundt before Powers found Gaby Zielinski again for a kill and 18-10 lead.
A beautiful quick set from Powers to Hamann for the kill made it 20-12 and the Mustangs were on the way to their first win over Hersey in at least 12 seasons.
"I think it was a great team win," Nickle said. "We've been working really hard in practice on blocking and I think that showed tonight. Even when we were not blocking, we got a lot of productive touches. Our passing was there, too, and I think everyone stepped up at different moments.
"Mary (Hamann) and Dahlia (Grandberry) got a lot of touches. Even when they weren't getting touches, they were affecting their hitters almost every single play. They did a great job for us and they've been working really hard in practice."
Hersey coach Laura Gerber praised the Mustangs.
"The first time we played them it was a super tight match in that tournament," she said. "But tonight their hitters just came out swinging. We couldn't block. They were super aggressive and we didn't react to what they were doing. We weren't taking control of the match. They played really, really well. They're going to be tough to beat."