Libertyville delivers victory against Warren

Get this - the head coach of the Libertyville girls volleyball team skipped the regional title game on Thursday night.

As it turns out, coach Greg Loika had a very good excuse. He and his wife had a hospital stay, awaiting the birth of their first child.

There was plenty of excitement for his extended volleyball family as well, in the Lake Zurich regional final.

Underdog Warren led early, but this eighth-seeded Blue Devils eventually fell behind against top seed Libertyville 24-19 in the first set as the Wildcats seemed ready to put the Blue Devils away.

It didn't go quite that way. Warren (19-14) tied it up at 24-24.

"We felt it was about over,'' said Libertyville middle hitter Haley Stevenson. "And we let it slip away. We needed to finish that set."

Eventually, they did, and as a result Libertyville (32-5) is headed home to the sectional. The Wildcats continued on their winning ways with a 26-24, 25-15 victory.

Like teammate, Allison Watson (from New York), Stevenson is also a transfer student. She came from Texas and is certainly glad she joined up with this team.

"It's my dad, got a new job,'' Stevenson said. "But it's worked out so well. We are one big family."

Warren had been peaking late in the season, and that stunning comeback in set one proved it. With Natalie McNally serving for Warren, she had help from a Kim Hengesh block kill and slammed kill from slugger Jenna Walczak.

"We played Warren early when they weren't playing as well as they are now," said Libertyville libero Morgan O'Brien. "But we didn't underestimate them. We knew this would be a tough match."

Libertyville recovered with the score knotted at 24-24. Erin Dunleavy's kill gave the Cats a 1-point lead and Stevenson closed the first set with the winning kill.

Helping out in Loika's absence was Libertyville's boys coach and assistant girls coach, Jen Smith.

"We just have a lot of talent on this team,'' Smith said. "We just have to get the right combination in there."

Taking no chances in set two, Watson had 3 straight kills to give the Cats a quick lead. Again, however, Walczak answered back for her team, and the set was tied at 10-10.

"We knew Warren was very good team,'' Stevenson said. "They had some hard hitters. We didn't underestimate them. We were prepared for them. We had studied them and their tipping and deep shots."

Libertyville took the momentum in set two and never let it go. The Cats' lead grew to 16-11 on a kill from setter Anna Lillydahl. With O'Brien serving, Stevenson and Lillydahl combined on a block kill

"This took a lot of hard work,'' O'Brien said. "I think it helps us that we went to state last year. We know how good that felt."

Watson and Dunleavy led a balanced attack with 7 kills each. Stevenson checked in with 6 kills, and O'Brien notched 16 digs in the two sets.

Warren will have to say so-long to the hard-hitting Walczak; Hengesh and setter Nicole Berzin also graduate.