Fremd, Hersey advance to final

Thanks to some late heroics, Fremd will have a chance to play for its first sectional title in 21 years.

The fourth-seeded Vikings were able to stave off a stellar effort by No. 9 St. Viator in Tuesday's Class 4A Barrington girls volleyball sectional semifinals to score a 25-22, 26-24 win.

"They (Viator) did an outstanding job," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley. "They made us take our game to another level in order to beat them."

Sophomore Alexandrea Messner led Fremd with 7 kills as it advanced to Thursday's 7 p.m. sectional final against Hersey, which beat Conant 25-17, 25-9.

Another sophomore, Emily Leazer (7 kills, 3 aces), played an outstanding match for the Lions.

"A lot of people didn't expect us to be here," said Viator coach Charlie Curtin, whose team knocked off top-seeded Lake Zurich to win the Libertyville regional. "But we knew we could play with anybody.

"Our girls never gave up. We talked all season about leaving it all on the court and that's what they did tonight."

Leazer and junior Christina Brinkman led Viator back from an 8-point Game 1 deficit before a kill from Fremd middle Tess Dinterman gave the Vikings the win.

Then the Lions stormed from behind again in Game 2 and grabbed a 24-23 advantage.

"It was so exciting," said Dinterman. "I was telling my friends on the bench that it was so emotionally powerful. I was going crazy."

With Viator (19-19) just 1 point away from tying the match, Fremd senior Stephanie Alesia (14-of-14 on attack, 6 kills) coolly tipped one to an open spot to make it 24-24.

Then another tip from Dinterman and a Viator hitting error gave the win to the Vikings (32-6).

"Last year," said Fremd setter Natalie Bruck, "we lost this (the sectional semifinals) to Schaumburg.

"It was a bitter time. This year is much better, especially being a senior."

Bruck finished 30-of-31 setting while fellow setter Kayla Price was 28-of-29 with 9 assists. Libero Sarah Welsh was 13-of-16 on defense with 5 digs.

Kaitlyn Pascus slammed 2 block kills for Fremd. Viator junior Brinkman led all hitters with 8 kills.

"This was exactly the same as the Lake Zurich game," said Viator's Michelle Warnimont, one of only 3 seniors on the roster. "We were down and then we busted our butts and pulled together.

"I've been playing volleyball for eight years, and this was by far my favorite team. Every single person worked extremely hard the entire season."

Hersey d. Conant: Less than two weeks removed from Hersey's victory over Conant at the Mid-Suburban League girls volleyball championship, the Huskies were at it again Tuesday.

Second-seeded Hersey (30-8) defeated the third-seeded Cougars 25-17, 25-9 in the Class 4A sectional semifinal at Barrington.

"We played our game and we knew what we needed to do to win," Hersey coach Nancy Lill said. "Our defense was real strong today. We dug a lot of good hits, we read what they were bringing to us and we handled their offense. We were the aggressors."

Sophomore Jenni Mueller spotted the Huskies a 10-0 lead with stellar serving to start Game 2 and the lead only grew wider from there. Conant (29-8) scored 2 points in a row only once in the game.

"I was just ready to go out and finish the match right there," Mueller said of her serving.

Lill's junior daughter Katie led the offense with 6 kills, and MSL East Player of the Year Shelly Mueller tallied 19 assists on 49-for-50 setting.

Hersey totaled 41 digs in the match to demonstrate just how effective their defense was.

"We were really picking up everything today and being aggressive," said Katie Lill, who accounted for 14 digs. "We were nervous going into this match because last year we lost to Conant in regionals after beating them during the season."

If Hersey's win over Conant in the MSL championship wasn't revenge enough, Tuesday's knockout blow certainly was.

- David Just