Wright, LZ jump past Grant

Lake Zurich senior outside hitter Crystal Wright frequently used a jump serve last year.

She proved Wednesday that her finesse serve is just as tough to handle.

Wright stayed on the ground to serve the final 7 points of Lake Zurich's opening 25-18 victory against visiting Grant on Wednesday. The Bears closed out the match with a 25-14 win in the second game.

"We've been serving to zones all season," Wright said. "It's great when you can throw off the other team's offense and get your team excited."

During Wright's run at the service line, she had 3 aces. Two of them came on short serves that dropped in front of a charging Grant player.

"She can really place it," Lake Zurich coach Matt Aiello said. "When she gets on a run, she can serve it to any spot."

Lake Zurich struggled mightily at the start of the match and Grant took advantage. The Bulldogs led 7-2, forcing an early Lake Zurich timeout.

"I told them I wasn't going to call another timeout," Aiello said. "They knew what they had to do."

Grant (7-14) increased its lead to 14-7 on an ace by senior setter Rachel Mitchell, but that proved to be the Bulldogs' high point. Lake Zurich (15-5) controlled the rest of the game, which Wright was able to put away from the service line.

Lake Zurich's big block prevented Grant from scoring any easy points in the second game. One highlight for the Bulldogs was the play of senior Tori Ziegler, who had 4 kills and 2 solo blocks.

"I saw they had a lot of big hitters," Ziegler said. "I was able to watch the ball and (anticipate) where it was going."

Grant's passing took a step forward against Lake Zurich.

"Our passing was better tonight," Bulldogs coach Sue Thompson said. "We've had leads all season, but we (need) to keep playing consistently."

Wright's 9 kills paced Lake Zurich. Junior Lydia Bauer and sophomore Jenn Grunden had 5 and 4 kills, respectively. Grunden (16 digs) and junior Melissa Miehlke (15 digs) had strong matches on defense.

Lake Zurich does not play again for six days, and Aiello said the Bears will use that time for a mini training camp.

"We're going to key on fundamentals," he said. "We'll also (focus) on conditioning with the new playoff format."