Full speed ahead for Hersey
In the 35-year history of the Hersey girls volleyball tournament, there have been plenty of thrilling championship matches.
You can add another one from Saturday when Maddie Swan nailed a quick set from Joanna Hoffman to the floor, then Becca Haraf served an ace to give the Huskies a dramatic 22-25, 25-21, 26-24 triumph over Lake Zurich.
The Huskies' five straight wins gave them a 16-1 record for the season and avenged a three-game loss to the Bears (10-4) a year ago in the same match.
"It was awesome," said Swan, also a talented basketball and soccer player. "After losing to them in this match last year, we really wanted to win this. This tournament is a big part of our season. And with so many seniors, we wanted to win it so badly."
The Huskies trailed 11-6 in the final game but fought back to a 12-12 tie on a service point by Hoffman. The game was also tied eight more times.
After Katie's Lill' s tip capped a superb rally and gave Hersey a 24-23 lead, Brittany Murawski blocked an overpass to tie it at 24.
"Joanna (Hoffman, who had 104 assists) really set us well," Swan added. "She played great the whole tournament. We were nervous in that final match, but we were very excited. When we got to match point, I knew we could pull it out because we had so much momentum and Becca is a great server."
Haraf also ended the Huskies' three-game semifinal win over Mundelein with an ace.
Lake Zurich defeated Montini 31-29, 25-17 in the other semifinal.
Then the Bears started out with the 25-22 win over Hersey in Game 1.
"Their middles (Swan and Jamie Welter) did a real nice job in games 2 and 3," said Bears coach Matt Aiello. "And ours (Amanda Orchard and Aubrey Bauer) did, too. "
Aiello saw his team improve Saturday.
"It was a good day for us, not great," said the former Buffalo Grove volleyball standout. "It was a good day because we got better. We are preparing for late October and early November. "We just want to get better." Aiello felt his team missed to many serves during the title match.
"We were giving them way too many points by missing serves," he said. "That was killing our momentum. Once we clean up our side of the net, I'll take us over anyone. But we must work on those things."
Lill led the Huskies on attack with 44 kills, followed by Swan (38), Jamie Welter (28) and Christina Solans (19).
Sophomore Jenni Mueller was outstanding serving (57-of-58 with 12 aces).
"It was great to see the girls be able to step up and win after they had lost in this match last year to the same team," said Hersey coach Nancy Lill. "It was a fun tournament. So many of the players on different teams knew each other from playing in club volleyball." The fifth-place consolation match came down to a pair of Mid-Suburban League West teams. Hoffman Estates defeated Schaumburg 25-23, 25-21.
The Hawks, who went 3-2 in the tourney, were led by Jada Stotts (30 kills), Lauren La Masse (28) and Kelsey Lukowicz (26) on attack. Kelsey Pellus helped set the offense by collecting 50 assists from 135 attempts.
Pellus also served for 10 aces while Stotts led the Hawks with 9 blocks.
Schaumburg, which was 2-3 in the eight-team event, received 30 kills from Emily Young, followed by Alyssa Saklak (19), Rebecca Thompson (16) and Sara Travis (12).
Young also dished out 36 assists while Marni Gonnering had 33. Jenny Dolan collected 41 digs.
St. Viator Invite: Huntley defeated St. Viator 28-26, 25-22 in the championship of the Lions tourney. The hosts went 4-1 in their own Cahill Gymnasium.
Senior Kelly McConnell (28 kills), junior Emily Leazer (21 kills), senior Christina Brinkman (17), senior Kelly Travaglio (17) and senior Mary Calov led the Lions (12-2) on attack which was set by junior Carlyn Clevenger 82 assists.
McConnell led the team with 8 blocks in the 5 matches while top servers were Leazer (14 aces), McConnell (10) and Clevenger (8).
Elk Grove took third place by defeating Rockford Boylan 25-22, 25-20.
The Grenadiers (11-6) were paced on attack by Leah Miller (28 kills), Stephanie Maday (17), Amanda Gattone (17) and Tara Braceros (15 kills).
Jessica Condon set the offense with 207 attempts and 68 assists.
Olivia Roback (48-50) led the Grenadiers at the service line (10 aces) and on defense (64 digs). Maday's 8 blocks were tops.
Glenbard West Invite: Fremd (12-5) took third place with a 25-12, 25-20 victory over the host Hilltoppers.
In what Vikings coach Curt Pinley called a great match, Geneva defeated his Fremd squad 25-15, 12-25, 25-23 in the semifinals of the 12-team event.
"I thought Kayla Price (setter) did a great job," Pinley said. "And Tess Dinterman (senior outside hitter) was huge for us, especially in the Geneva match."
Prospect opened the tourney with a two-game loss (25-16, 25-21) to Glenbard East and then defeated the same team 25-21, 25-23 in its last match of the tourney.
The Knights (7-4), who went 3-2 in the tourney, were led on attack by all-tourney selection Rachel Hunt. She put down 40 kills, followed by Sarah Hunt (35 kills) Sam Mangrum (17), Kat Mantych (15) and Mariel Sobey (14).
Danielle Siwik handed out 58 assists while Abby Homuth had 38.
Maureen O'Keefe helped spark the Prospect defense with 72-of-88 serve receiving and 38 digs.