Lake County roundup
Libertyville’s girls volleyball team cruised through pool play in Glenbrook North’s invite, until falling to New Trier 25-23, 25-21 in Saturday’s gold bracket final.
Libertyville (18-4) opened leads of 17-11 in Set 1 and 18-11 in Set 2, but coach Greg Loika said his Wildcats “didn’t have the finishing touches, getting caught in a tough rotation in Set 1 and being unable to side out efficiently” when right side Taylor Zant got hurt.
Zant came down on a Trevian defender at the net and had to leave the game. The momentum swung quickly, Loika said, as New Trier went on runs of 3, 4 and 5 points in Set 2 with the score going from (Libertyville leading) 18-12 to (New Trier leading) 24-21.
“Obviously a talented team like New Trier can put you in tough spots, but our team needed to make better decisions as the match tightened,” Loika said. “We were out of system a lot, which is not a place to be with New Trier’s size and power. It was frustrating to have such control for two-thirds of the match and not see it through to the end.”
In the finals, Libertyville’s Kristen Webb contributed 22 digs, while Cindy Zhou and Brooke Donovan added 9 and 7, respectively. Zhou also added 11 assists, 4 aces and 2 kills. Rhiannon Prentiss led Libertyville with 4 kills, while Alex Basler added 3 kills and a block.
Libertyville rallied to defeat Nazareth 23-25, 25-20, 25-20 in the semifinals. Webb had a season-high 45 digs, while Zhou lofted 40 assists. Julia Smagacz (13) and Prentiss (11) posted double-digit kills. Zhou added 8 kills.
In pool play Friday, Libertyville defeated Evanston (25-15, 25-16), Maine South (25-22, 25-20) and Glenbrook North’s JV (25-9, 25-19).
Antioch tournament: In the inaugural Elaine Lonergan Memorial tournament, the host Sequoits split four matches and also claimed a forfeit win over Michigan City Christian.
Antioch defeated Southland College Prep (25-2, 25-7) and Tinley Park (26-24, 22-25, 15-10). The Sequoits fell to DeKalb (25-23, 25-12) and Crystal Lake Central (25-10, 25-17).
The Sequoits’ statistical leaders for the tournament included Madeline Johnson (13 kills), Marissa Grant (43 assists, 14 aces, 6 blocks), Sam Falco (6 blocks) and Abbi McIlhany (29 digs).
“It was an OK tournament for us,” said coach Glen Heitman, whose Sequoits are 16-10. “We played well at times, finishing with a win against Tinley Park. We lost to DeKalb in two playing strong in the first set, and then we came out flat in the second set. We didn’t pass well the first set (against Crystal Lake Central) and played out of system the entire set. We passed and played better in the second set.”