You've got to hand it to Starrenburg, Pirates

Her hand was taped due to a broken bone which cost her two and half weeks on the sidelines, but Kelli Starrenburg still gave her Pirates girls volleyball team a big helping hand Tuesday.

The senior outside hitter stepped to the service line with the Pirates leading 15-14 and broke Game 2 open with 5 straight points, including an ace as Palatine went on to post a 25-14, 25-15 victory over visiting Conant.

"I was just trying to move their players around in the back row," Starrenburg said of her serving string. "We played with a lot of energy."

"Kelli has a nice floater," said Palatine coach Dan Gavin, whose saw his team improve to 4-6 and 2-1 in the Mid-Suburban West. "The doctor told her she can play again, but she's still not 100 percent. She is roughing it out."

The Pirates also got some big serving from 6-foot frontliners Hannah Guth (senior) and Kaley Sierawski (junior). They jumped-served for 3 and 2 aces, respectively.

Guth notched all 3 of her on a row tie Game 2 at 6-6.

Sierawski led the winners with a match-high 9 kills while Guth and Allison Richter each added 3. They took their cues from setters Jenny Solberg (9 assists) and Laura Kluk (4).

"We have a lot more edge now than a few weeks ago," Richter said. "We are working a lot harder in practice and we are playing more as a team. We have it together now. We feel we can beat anyone if we are playing together."

"We really feel that," Gavin added. "When we play as a team, we can compete with anyone around."

An ace by freshman Precilla Fajardo (4 digs) gave Conant a 5-1 lead in Game 2 before Palatine battled back.

The Pirates were the team to jump ahead 5-1 in Game 1 as Sierawski put down kills for 3 of those pits along with an ace by libero Sydney Wiedemann.

Conant was led on attack by Antonia Jones' 3 kills while Chelsea Vanicek served a pair of aces. Marni Wiklanski, Allie Bauch, Vanicek and Antoinette Schiffer each added 3 digs.

"We are reloading as we continue to rebuild," said Cougars coach Peggy Scholten.

Elk Grove d. Rolling Meadows: Junior outside hitter Leah Miller put down 7 kills and senior Stephanie Maday added 4 as Elk Grove (6-5, 2-1) posted a 28-26, 25-18 victory. Jessica Condon handed out 17 assists while Olivia Roback was 17-of-18 serve receiving with 10 digs and 2 aces.

Samantha Rosinski (24-of-27 on attack) led Meadows (2-9, 1-2) with 10 kills and 8 digs. Emily Nelms handed out 14 assists while Veronica Dobrowski had 3 blocks.

Prospect d. Buffalo Grove: Senior Rachel Hunt belted a match-high 14 kills to lead Prospect to a 25-18, 21-25, 25-20 triumph as Danielle Siwik (18 assists) and Jordan Bruce (14 assists) ran the offense. Mariel Sobey added 9 kills for the Knights (3-2, 2-1) while Sam Mangrum had 6 and Sarah Hunt 5.

BG (4-11, 0-3) was paced by senior middle blocker Alyssa Feld (9 kills, 6 blocks) while teammate Alexa Barrowman collected a team-high 7 digs.

Barrington d. Hoffman Estates: Barrington (3-7, 1-2) earned its first win in the MSL West with a 25-17, 25-15 victory as freshman Peyton Lang (2 aces) clicked for 7 kills and junior Brooke Chandor added 4. Junior Madison Lang set the offense with 11 assists while Tanya Mookerji collected 14 digs. Emily Harris had 6 blocks for the Fillies while Madison Lang had 4.

Hoffman stands at 6-5 and 2-1.

Hersey d. Wheeling: Hersey improved to 10-1 and 3-0 in the MSL East with a 25-16, 25-12 triumph. Senior Katie Lill led the Huskies with 9 kills while Jamie Welter had 4. Joanna Hoffman handed out 17 assists and Becca Haraf led the defense with 14 digs followed Christina Solans (12) and Lill (8). Teammate Maddie Swan collected 3 blocks.

Wheeling (4-6, 1-2) was led on attack by Bianca Szafarowicz and Kelsie Jurik, who each had 4 kills. Amy Lee collected 10 digs and Stephanie Kuzmanic had a pair of aces.

Fremd d. Schaumburg: Tess Dinterman put down 7 kills while Alex Messner added 5 for Fremd (8-2, 3-0) in the 25-22, 25-23 victory. Junior setter Kayla Price handed out 16 assists while Lena Brottman (5 digs) and Allison Grzeski (4) helped spark the defense against Schaumburg (3-7, 1-2).

Emily Young put down 8 kills for Schaumburg (3-7, 1-2) while Alyssa Saklak added 5. Jenny Dolan led the Saxons with 20 digs and 3 aces. Marni Gonnering had 9 assists and Young 6.

St. Viator d. Carmel: Junior Emily Leazer (7 kills), senior Kelly McConnell (5), senior Kelly Travaglio (5), senior Mary Calov (6) and Christina Brinkman (4) led the attack for St. Viator in a 21-25, 25-21, 25-13 victory in the Lions' East Suburban Catholic opener.

Senior Stephanie Rountree led the Lions (7-1, 1-0) with 17 digs while junior Carlyn Clevenger handed out 29 assists.