Wildcats meet their match

NORMAL -- Libertyville's girls volleyball team reached the Class 4A state semifinals at Redbird Arena with a roster populated by three-sport athletes who fought, clawed and willed their way into the Final Four.

But against Naperville Central -- a team populated by volleyball specialists who train in the sport year round -- the Wildcats were simply unable to keep pace.

Naperville Central's outside-hitting combination of Rebecca Heath (18 kills) and Emily McGee (10) hit over, around and through the Libertyville block to lead Naperville Central (37-4) to a commanding 25-13, 25-14 victory.

Libertyville (34-7) will face St. Charles East (28-13) in the Class 4A consolation match today at approximately 6:45 p.m.

"First of all, you do have to give Naperville Central a ton of credit," Libertyville coach Chris Trzyna said. "They were a team that was extremely fast and quick and they also have tremendous size for us to match up against. For us it was probably one of the fastest-hitting teams we've seen all season."

Naperville Central's aggressive serving never allowed Libertyville to get much offense started. As a result setter Erin DeMarco finished with just 5 assists and the Wildcats were able to record only 7 kills as a team, led by 2 apiece by Ali Haws and Lexie Gibbins.

The Redhawks, on the other hand, had 33 team kills and setter Megan McMahon notched 26 assists.

"I think we could have played better and could have had a shot with them," DeMarco said, "but they were definitely ... They came out and we didn't know what to do. We couldn't serve-receive their attacks. We couldn't serve-receive like we know how. We did our best, but they are really just a good team."

Libertyville trailed 7-5 in Game 1 when the Redhawks took control with an 11-3 push fueled, in part, by 4 unforced errors by the Wildcats.

Game 2 brought no relief as Heath pounded away from the outsides. She made just 3 errors in 28 total attacks.

The loss hurt, of course, but not so much that it obscured the Wildcats' appreciation of their successful run to the state tournament.

"When we started the season I don't think anyone anywhere would have ever figured that we were a team that was going to be down here in the state tournament in Class 4A," Trzyna said. "I, as a coach, could not be prouder of a group of kids right now.

"First of all, we only had two returning players at key positions. Ali Haws actually was a backup middle for us last year and she has come on tremendously strong for us throughout the season.

"We're very proud of this. We're not really all club players. We're very much three-sport athletes. It's part of the philosophy of our high school. To get a group of athletes to play the roles that they needed to and actually come through and be a force as a team all season long is truly a great compliment to them."

Trzyna feels the Wildcats have a little life in them yet, which she hopes they can demonstrate against St. Charles East.

"If we can come out (today) and do the things we've done well all season long -- serve aggressively, play great defense, connect on our hits and really put a ball away every now and then -- we'll be fine," Trzyna said. "We're usually a very aggressive team defensively. We usually cover the court well. Those are the things we pride ourselves on. So our keys are to get us back on track and perform to the best of our abilities."