Pascus, Fremd net 'amazing' victory

Even as she was overcome with the emotion of the moment, Fremd senior Kaitlyn Pascus had no trouble finding the right words Thursday night.

"Amazing," Pascus said. "This is the best feeling I've ever had."

Pascus no doubt also spoke for the rest of her teammates, as the Vikings celebrated their first girls volleyball sectional championship since 1987.

Pascus came up huge down the stretch with an ace and 2 block kills.

Fellow senior and co-Mid-Suburban League West Division player of the year Stephanie Alesia hammered 13 kills as Fremd defeated Hersey 27-25, 19-25, 25-15 to win the Barrington sectional title.

Game 3 was tied at 12-12, but the Vikings caught fire and scored 13 of the final 16 points to net the win.

"I was so ready to keep pushing forward (in the tournament)," Alesia said. "I wanted to win so bad."

Senior outside hitter McKenzie Forbes led the second-seeded Huskies with 14 kills as Hersey finished with a 30-9 mark.

"They got on a roll," said Huskies coach Nancy Lill, "and we didn't execute."

Hersey was at game point twice in the opener, but Fremd rallied, and an Alesia tip and a Huskies line violation gave the Vikings the lead.

Hersey came back in Game 2 behind senior setter Shelly Mueller (95 of 96, 38 assists) and junior libero Becca Haraf (20 digs) to tie the match.

"After we lost Game 2 we we're telling each other 'this is not how we play,' " Pascus said. "We came out determined in game three. It was a case of total teamwork."

Fremd (33-6) trailed early in the third game but rallied to take a 15-12 lead midway through after a Pascus serve tipped the net and fell to an open spot on the court for an ace.

"I think that was a backbreaker," said Fremd coach Curt Pinley.

A couple of Alesia kills and an ace from sophomore Kayla Price (42-of-42 setting, 19 assists) put the Vikings ahead 20-15.

"Coach keeps telling us, 'first one to 20,' " Price said. "He always sets that goal for us, to get to 20 points before our opponent."

Junior Katie Lill hit 2 of her 12 kills down the stretch as Hersey tried to rally, but 2 big blocks from Pascus, a spike from Alexandrea Messner and a Huskies hitting error closed out the match.

"You have to give them credit," Nancy Lill said. "They played well down the stretch. Our defense was out of sync, and our offense didn't execute."

"Our kids had a great year and it's unfortunate it had to end this way for them."

Messner finished with 11 kills on 19-of-22 hitting, while Fremd co-setter Natalie Bruck was 40 of 4- 2 with 20 assists.

"I was telling the kids before Game 3 that this was the type of match that was going to be decided by 1 or 2 points," said Pinley, "and for a while it did go that way. Then Kaitlyn's serve trickled over the net, and we were able to get to 20 then close it out."

"We don't have time to do a lot of celebrating. We'll celebrate tonight, then it's back to work tomorrow."