Girls volleyball: Tableman steps into bigger role, helps Mundelein sweep Palatine

With her girls volleyball team two points away from a two-game win on Tuesday night, Mundelein senior Allison Tableman was handed a minor problem.

"The nail on my little finger broke off," she said. "Not a huge deal but my finger started bleeding so I was rushing to put on a bandage. I was all good."

Tableman quickly returned to the floor and was there when the Mustangs nailed down their first win of the season, a 25-23, 25-23 nonconference nail-biter over host Palatine, thanks to the winning kill from junior defensive specialist Chloe Leipold.

For the second straight night, Mundelein was playing in Palatine.

Fremd defeated the Mustangs (1-1) on Monday in two sets.

"Honestly this was a great pick-me-up from the night before," Tableman said. “We were all feeling a little down but this was a great way to bounce back."

"We love coming here," said Mustangs coach Jeff Blezien, who played boys volleyball at Barrington. "Why not start the season in Palatine? Both coaches (brothers Dan Gavin at Palatine and Pete Gavin at Fremd) do an amazing job with their programs and they're just stand-up people. We love playing them because they're just great guys."

Tableman, who had 17 assists and two aces, has shown great development over the past two seasons and has moved into the starting role as a setter in the Mustangs' 6-2 offense that also features junior setter Shayla Agarwal.

"Allison started the second half of the season last year and is doing an awesome job this year," Blezien said. "Two things have made the difference: she is serving consistently and her defense has been 10 times better. She struggled a little with that last season but this year it's been absolutely amazing."

"The club season really helped me develop those things," Tableman said.

The Mustangs were led on attack by senior Tanner Leedle (five kills), sophomore Donnelly Wyss (four kills) and junior Ela Campo (three kills).

Junior Kiya Chesak had three kills for the Pirates (0-1), whose offense was set by four-year starter Alaina Ratay (two kills) in a match where neither team led by more than four points after Palatine enjoyed a 5-0 lead to start the first game.

"It was pretty typical of a first match," Dan Gavin said. "We had moments where we looked good and moments where we looked like everyone on the court was new. We have only three girls who played on the varsity last season so to be a well-oiled machine in our first match can not be a realistic expectation. We'll get better as the matches go on. Jeff (Blezien) is a good coach. He does a nice with his girls."

And Tableman has done a nice job securing a permanent spot in the lineup.

"It's great to work with all my teammates in our 6-2 offense," said Tableman, who doesn't plan on playing in college. "I want to become a forensic accountant, basically working with financial crimes."

For now, she has nailed down a starting spot for her senior season with her serving, setting and defense.