Mueller picks her spot for Hersey

Sophomore Jenny Mueller patiently waits for her turn to enter games for Hersey's girls volleyball team.

The defensive specialist tries her best to prepare for when coach Nancy Lill comes calling.

"When I'm sitting on the bench, I'm thinking, 'who am I going to serve at?' " she said. "And, 'What zone am I going to be aiming for?' I never know what's going to happen but I always hope I'm going to come in and take charge. I hope I can help us get some momentum."

Mueller sure did Saturday when the Mid-Suburban East champs found themselves in a tense third game with Lockport (20-11) in the fifth-place match of the Maine West Pumpkin Invite.

With the Huskies leading 8-5, Mueller served for 7 straight points, forcing the Porters to use both its timeouts.

By the time Lockport got a side out, Hersey had built a 15-6 lead and never looked back in recording an 11-25, 25-21, 25-19 victory.

"That was a giant serving run by Jenny," said Lill, whose team improved to 27-2 heading into next Thursday's Mid-Suburban League championship match at Fremd. "That was huge. She served aggressively and consistent."

Senior Katie Lill's kill gave the Huskies a 20-11 advantage in Game 3.

An ace by senior libero Becca Haraf (62 digs in the tourney) put Hersey ahead 23-15. The Huskies got to match point when Jamie Welter put down a kill for a 24-17 cushion.

Moments, setter Joanna Hoffman and Welter teamed up for a double block to end the match.

Lill knew it would be a tough match because of Lockport's scrappy defense.

"When you play Lockport, you feel like no matter what you do, the ball is not going down," Nancy Lill. "They are phenomenal in the back row."

Katie Lill was sure putting the ball down in the Huskies' 25-16, 20-25, 25-19 win over New Trier in the consolation semifinals.

The senior outside hitter put down a season-high 18 kills.

For the five matches in the tourney, including a two-game loss to Evanston on Saturday morning, Katie Lill led the Huskies' attack with 42 kills, followed by Christina Solans (34), Maddie Swan (33), Welter (22) and Hoffman (14).

Haraf paced the Huskies with her 10 aces. Hoffman connected for 9 while also handing out 124 assists.

Conant went 2-3 in the Pumpkin with wins over Maine West (25-23, 25-15) and Palatine (27-25, 25-17). Coach Peggy Scholten's club was led on attack by Kristin Perschon (26 kills, 8 blocks), Chelsea Vanicek (17 kills), Antoinette Schiffer (11 kills) and Antonia Jones (9 kills, 6 blocks).

Marni Wiklanski set the offense with 57 assists while Vanicek paced the defense with 24 digs.

Wheeling (9-24) earned its win in the tournament over Maine West as Kellie Kuzmanic (21 kills), Bianca Szarfarowicz (17 kills) and Kelise Jurik (11 kills) led the attack for the five matches. Stephanie Fuchs handed out 49 assists.

Autumnfest Classic: Schaumburg (0-5) was led on attack by Emily Young (36 kills), Alyssa Saklak (28 kills, 33 digs, 7 aces) and Rebecca Thompson (14 kills, 23 digs). Young also had 31 assists and 8 aces while Jenny Dolan collected 55 digs and 6 aces. Ashlee Norris (21 assists) and Marni Gonnering (19 assists) also helped direct the offense.

Elgin tournament: Rolling Meadows went 4-1, claiming all its triumphs in two games and falling to South Elgin in three.

Samantha Rosinski (5 aces, 9 blocks, 34 digs) led the attack with 41 kills, followed by Jackie Rosinski (33 kills, 20 digs, 13 aces) and Kelly Adair (26 kills, 23 digs) ). Emily Nelms (30 digs) collected 76 assists while Rene Pollinetz added 23 with 19 digs.

Also sparking the Mustangs defense were Alyssa Arwady (13 digs) and Alison Filipeli (12 digs).