Stevenson stops Lake Forest

The never-say-die, comeback girls from Lincolnshire struck again on Thursday night in the championship match of Class 4A Buffalo Grove girls volleyball sectional.

For the second time in three nights, the relentless Stevenson girls dropped the first set and came back to win.

This time, they earned a spot in the supersectional for the second straight season.

With a dramatic 18-25, 25-20, 25-23 victory over top-seeded Lake Forest (32-5), the No. 2 Patriots (31-8) advance to Saturday’s Lake Zurich supersectional and will face 2010 Class 4A state runner-up Cary-Grove (34-5) at 7 p.m.

“They’re (Stevenson) scary, they’re a good team,” Scouts senior setter Heidi Sierks. “And when a good team gets going, it’s tough to stop.”

And the Patriots knew when to get going — Set 2.

“Game 2 is ours — that’s what we said,” said Patriots senior setter Hannah Kay (8 assists), a first-year varsity player who runs a 6-2 offense with another first-year varsity senior, Jamie Baranowski (12 assists). “And we just started pushing.

“This was definitely a preseason goal — we said, ‘Let’s be sectional champs.’ ”

Despite losing twice in the regular season to the Scouts and trailing for nearly every point of Set 1, Stevenson charged back in the next two sets.

The Pats were sparked by their blocking game (2 solo and 4 assists by junior Jenna Radtke, and 2 assists and 1 solo and 2 assists by senior Michelle Schroeder) and attack led by juniors Rachel Baader (match-high 14 kills) and Liza Pflugradt (5 kills).

“We are very mentally tough,” said Baader, who had 13 kills in the Pats’ semifinal win over Hersey on Tuesday. “Even if they get the biggest kill in the world, we can come right back. We stay in the moment.”

Lake Forest had its best moment in the third set when it took an 11-7 lead on a dynamic crosscourt kill by Pittsburgh-bound standout Mary Striedl (12 kills).

But the Patriots surged ahead 13-11 on 5 straight points from Pflugradt and led 19-16 before the North Suburban Conference champs got to within 19-18.

A tip by Baader made it 20-18.

Only 1 point separated the two NSC teams until the Pats won the match on a hitting error by Lake Forest.

“We played a little faster this time (than first two time against the Scouts),” said Patriots coach Tim Crow, whose defense was led by senior Mackenzie Kurth’s 13 digs. “We were really creating the block and getting them out of their system.

“From what I’ve seen in years past, it’s really tough to beat a team three times so we had that working in our favor, too.”

Set 2 was tied at 8-8 before Stevenson pulled away to a 13-8 lead, getting the 13th point on Pflugradt’s kill off a set from Kay.

Sophomore Kara Maleski’s block gave the Pats a 15-9 lead and they took their biggest advantage at 23-17 on a block by Radtke.

“We just never got down and our fans are a huge help,” Pflugradt said. “They give us a lot of confidence. We knew about Lake Forest’s big hitters, some of us know them personally, and we knew where we had to block them. That was our main goal.”

“I thought Lake Forest played amazing so it’s really an honor to win,” Baader added. “Mary (Striedl) had some amazing hits.”

But on this night, the Patriots had their weapons, too.

“I’m so lucky to have the best front row,” Kay said. “We (Kay and Baranowski) can give it to anyone and they get the job done.”

Lake Forest coach Ray Werner was the first to say it was a job well done by Stevenson.

“They’re just a good team and they did a real nice job weathering the storm (in Set 1),” he said. “I thought we got a little too nervous and some of our balls started to sail here and there. That happens.

“You don’t get to play in a sectional final that often. You have to be able to relax and that’s what Stevenson did after we came put pretty hard at them that first set.”

“It all comes down to who makes the plays when you need them, and they made them,” said Sierks, who handed out 34 assists. “We got a little passive in the middle of Set 2 and Set 3 and then we got aggressive again it was a little too late.

“We had a great season. Stevenson is a great team. Their block was big and they’re an amazing team. We wish them well and know they’ll represent our conference well.”