Girls volleyball: Charlie Fleegle, Libertyville dig sectional final win over Lake Zurich: ‘Truly insane’

Not many high school athletes get a chance to play in sectional championships.

But if you're Charlie Fleegle, you don't know anything but.

She became the first to do it in four straight years at Libertyville, and the 5-foot-6 senior libero certainly made the most it.

Her all-around terrific defense Thursday night helped give her and the Wildcats their third Class 4A sectional title in Feegle's four seasons with a 25-19, 25-23 victory over host Lake Zurich (28-7) .

Libertyville (38-1) will play St. Charles North (25-14) in Monday's Fremd supersectional at 6 p.m.

"Truly insane," said Fleegle, who will continue her career at Illinois State where she committed in June. "I never thought this would happen when I came in as a freshman. It's just a testament to all our hard work as a program. There's such a good culture here (program's 16th sectional crown and six under Greg Loika who began in 2009). And for me, it was just working hard, not comparing myself to others and just bettering myself every day."

"Charlie did an awesome job settling the team," said Loika after watching Feegle’s 12 digs. ""She is always anchoring the back row and did a phenomenal job tonight. She is a Division 1 libero for a reason."

Feegle cited one major reason for the win.

"I thought our block was a big key," she said. "Obviously, we knew their big hitter was Sage (Olson, a Notre Dame recruit). We needed to stop her a little but we knew she would get her kills (match-high 10). We were getting them out of system on offense and we had good defense all around."

That strong block was led by Vivian Lang (four), Emmi Zovistoski (four), Rhode Island pledge Elle Knight (three), Hallie Knight (three) and Casren Sesi (three).

"After three errors, Carsen came back with eight straight kills," Loika said. “She played great."

Sesi finished with a team-high nine kills, followed by Elle Knight (six), Zovistoski (six), Lang (three), Liz Galloway (two), Haile Knight (two) and Reilly Sutter (one).

Fleegle's sister Romy had eight digs and an ace while Brynne Colton added five digs. Both are sophomores. Colton (14 assists), senior Mairead Fleming (13) and Charlie Fleegle (three) set the attack.

"Just like our season has gone, I think we spread the wealth everywhere," Loika added. "Our rightside hitter (Elle Knight) had a great match. Our outsides did a great job blocking Sage. I think everyone pitched in. That's what makes us tough to play."

A back-to-back kill and block by Zovistoski gave Libertyville a 3-1 lead and the Wildcats led nearly every step of the way the rest of the opening set. They took their biggest lead at 19-13 thanks to an ace from Knight.

Lake Zurich (28-7) got back to within 20-17 on two service points from Emme Lawrence and a kill from Emerson Smith made it 20-18.

But kills from Carsen Sesi and Liz Galloway pushed Libertyville's lead back to 22-18. Sesi then added 2 more kills and a hitting error ended the set in favor of Libertyville 25-19.

The second set was tied at seven, eight, nine, 12 and 13 before Libertyville went ahead 15-13 on a kill by Knight.

Kills by Olson got the Bears to within 23-22 and 24-23 in the second set before an error ended the match.

Olson finished with 10 kills followed by Smith (six kills) and Vesta Adakauskas (five) while Ella Elsen (12 assists) and Olson (12 assists) set the offense.

"I'm super proud of our girls," said Lake Zurich coach Rachel Wiatrowski. "They showed growth every step of the way. I couldn’t be prouder. They have a ridiculous work ethic and they're great human beings. We played them (Libertyville) better when we won at their gym (in a conference match)."

"They (Lake Zurich) are an excellent volleyball team and well coached," said Loika, whose team split with the Bears during the regular season. "We are coaching against friends when we play them. Our roots run deep. So it's hard when someone can't move on. These are two very worthy teams and we are very happy it was us. These girls earned it."

And no one knows that better Charlie Fleegle, a defensive gem.

"When people hit her direction, she is gobbling it up," Loika said. "She has had more digs this year than ever before and she is covering a whole lot of ground.

"We are accustomed to coming into hostile territory. This was a great environment for high school volleyball. You should be playing in front of a full gym like this tonight. And Lake Zurich is an excellent team. So hats off to them."