Scouting volleyball / Buffalo Grove Class 4A sectional
Girls volleyball / Scouting the BG sectional
What: Buffalo Grove Sectional
When: Today, semifinals (6 p.m. and 7 p.m.)
Who: First match: No. 1 Lake Forest (31-4) vs. No. 5 Lake Zurich (26-11); Second match: No. 2 Stevenson (29-8) vs. No. 3 Hersey (31-5).
Championship: Thursday, 7 p.m.
How they got here: Lake Zurich d. Zion-Benton 25-12, 25-12 and Libertyville 25-21, 22-25, 28-26 to win Libertyville regional; Hersey d. Wheeling 25-10, 25-15 and Hersey d. Buffalo Grove 25-13, 25-10 to win Wheeling regional; Lake Forest d. Highland Park 25-10, 25-15 and Fremd 25-19, 25-22 to win St. Viator regional; Stevenson d. Prospect 25-14, 25-15 and Mundelein 23-25, 25-18, 25-18 to win Stevenson regional.
Past sectional titles: Hersey (8, the last 2005), Stevenson (9, the last 2010), Lake Zurich (3, the last in 2010), Lake Forest (2, the last in 1999).
The quote: “Anyone can beat anyone in this regional,” said Hersey’s Nancy Lill, who leads this four-team field with 8 sectional crowns in her 27 seasons and 780 career wins in 24 seasons. “It could be any of the four teams battling for the championship on Thursday night.”
What they’re saying:
Hersey coach Nancy Lill: “The girls are thrilled to be playing in the sectional. We lost to Stevenson in a tight match (Pats won 25-18, 22-25, 25-22 in Lincolnshire on Sept. 13) and feel we have improved a ton since then. We are excited about the opportunity. We respect Stevenson as a team, They’ve got one of the best players around in (Rachel) Baader. They are an excellent team and well-coached by Tim (Crow). We had too many unforced errors the first time. We need to play a much cleaner and consistent game. Our block has to be more effective. Our supplemental players are performing at a much higher point now so we are deeper offensively. Hopefully we’ll have a better performance under pressure than our conference championship (lost to Barrington in two sets). This is what we’ve worked for. I remember telling the girls after the conference match that this is to be a lesson learned. We need to perform. In the big picture, we had a dress rehearsal and now it’s time to go.”
Stevenson coach Tim Crow: “We are excited to survive regionals and are excited to compete in an extremely deep sectional. We have respect for Hersey as a program and their current team this season. They have a balanced team with two major offensive threats that make it difficult to game plan for. They have played a difficult schedule this year and have a number of wins against a number of quality teams. In order for us to be successful we need to take care of the back row and we will need to play at a high level. As usual with high school kids its going to be who can deal with the pressure of the atmosphere and their response to adversity. It should be a fun night of volleyball.”
Lake Zurich coach Matt Aiello: “We are excited to play Lake Forest again. We played well the first time that we played them (Bears won 22-25, 25-21, 25-14). Still though, there are a number of things that we plan on improving on this time around. We need to maintain our focus on communication and playing good defense. Lake Forest has some really talented players. They serve well and hit hard. They play a power game and that is what we like to match up against. We have to limit their runs to a minimum and make sure they know that they’ll have to earn every point. They know that we are probably the only team in the area with as much or more fire power.”
Lake Forest skinny: The Scouts defeated Lakes to win the North Suburban Conference championship and own a record of 31-4. Tori Lanzillotti had 9 kills, 5 digs, 3 aces, and 2 blocks for Lake Forest in its regional championship win. “The regional championship was one of several goals that this team wanted to work toward,” said Scouts coach Ray Werner “It has been nearly five years since the last Scout volleyball team has won a regional. The players earned it by staying positive and playing solid defensively.” When the Scouts fell to Lake Zurich, Lanzillotti led the way with 13 kills while Heidi Serks handed out 30 assists. “Lake Zurich was the more relaxed and efficient team,” Werner said after the match. Werner has been the Scouts head coach since 2009. He began coaching volleyball at the school in 1998. He also coached seven years of Division I and II college baseball, as well as high school, legion and travel baseball.
Home sweet home: Lake Zurich coach Matt Aiello is hardly a stranger to the Buffalo Grove gymnasium, where he was a standout setter in high school for the Bison and he also serves as BG’s boys volleyball coach in the spring.
Advancement: The champion moves on to the Lake Zurich supersectional on Saturday at 7 p.m. to face the champion of the Prairie Ridge sectional (Huntley, Cary-Grove, Dekalb, Rockton-Hononegah).