Girls volleyball: Rolling Meadows enjoying life on top of MSL East

It's been awhile since Rolling Meadows' girls volleyball team has been in the position it found itself following Tuesday night's Mid-Suburban East showdown with visiting Buffalo Grove.

The Mustangs (17-4) came from behind in the second set to win the match 25-21, 25-19 and grab first place with a 4-0 record while Buffalo Grove (10-9) slipped to 3-1.

"This (first place in the East) is something I've waited for since freshman year," said Mustangs outside hitter Lucy Pufundt, who put down 5 kills.

"It's definitely a surreal experience. But not surprising because we have so many talented people who have worked hard every day and everyone wants to do this. A lot of us are seniors and we've been playing together since middle school. And coach (Jack) Nickle loves and supports us so much. We feel that from him all the time. He listens and cares about us and that helps on the court."

Also lifting the Mustangs (who won for the 15th time in two sets) on the court was some student body support located in the upper southeast area of the bleachers in the first set.

"It's just nice to have them here and you definitely could see they made a difference," said four-year varsity player Gaby Zielinski, who had 2 big kills late in the first set. "It felt good playing with a lot of people, especially from our school who came out to see us because we are making an impact this season."

Nickle was aware of the big turnout.

"Obviously we had a huge crowd for the first set and we really fed off that energy," he said. "We're not used to that and it helped a lot. In the second set, they were gone and a few things didn't go our way so it got a little tough."

A kill by junior Cameron Damm gave the Bison (10-9) a 15-11 lead before the Mustangs charged back.

Dalia Grandberry's tip kill followed by her huge block in the middle started the rally which saw Pufundt serve for 4 straight points and a 16-15 lead.

Mary Hamann's kill tied the set at 18 and it was tied at 19 before Meadows went ahead for good. They took advantage of three BG mistakes down the stretch (to make it 23-19) before sophomore Lainey Griffiths set Mary Hamann for RM's penultimate point followed by Pufundt's match-winning kill, also off a set from Griffiths.

"It really came down to the first touch of the ball," Nickle said. "It came down to serve receive and making sure our first contact was there. That makes the game easier on us and doesn't put ourselves in a tough spot."

The Mustangs put themselves in a strong position in the first set thanks to the serve of Hamann. After Griffith's kill off a pass, Hamann served five straight points, including 4 aces which put RM ahead 17-9.

BG got back to within 19-18, thanks to back-to-back kills from senior Adeline Sirbu (7 kills) and an ace by Alex Tohter.

But leading 22-21, Meadows netted the final 3 points on a kill by Hamann, a lift call on BG and a kill by Pufundt off a pass from Jelena Jevtic and set from Griffiths.

Senior Carmen Powers served the Mustangs to a 2-0 lead in the second set before BG tied it at 2-2 on back-to-back kills by Damm. Junior Amelia Palubski also had a big kill down the line for BG in the second set for a 12-9 lead.

"We just made some little errors but overall I think we played well," Palubski said. "But we can do better. We started out strong in the second set but mistakes hurt us again. When we play as a team and the energy is there, we are so much stronger. It's the key little things we have to do."

Nickle said even though his team enjoys the top spot in the East, there is a lot more work to be done.

"The girls are excited but know we still have a lot of work to do," he said. "There are some good teams in this conference that we have to play again. But we're very excited about what we have done so far. We still have to keep pushing."