Strong showing from Mundelein at Grayslake North’s invite

Mundelein’s girls volleyball team turned in what coach George Dressen Jr. called its “best finish and play of this season” at Grayslake North’s invite Saturday.

The Mustangs won their pool by capturing all four of their matches before dropping a 25-20, 25-17 decision to Fremd for the championship.

Ashley Dolin (17 kills, 6 blocks, 41-of-42 serving, 6 aces) and Madi Wilcox (85 assists, 13 kills, 7 aces) made the all-tournament team for Mundelein (11-17), which outlasted Warren in three sets and also defeated Woodstock, Niles North and Wauconda.

Yasmeen Johnson slammed a team-best 30 kills for Mundelein, while Courtney Perreault had 26 kills and 5 aces.

Grayslake North (seventh, 2-3) was represented by Joanna Guhl on the all-tournament team. She had 16 kills on 47-of-50 hitting and served 34 of 37 with 4 aces. Kelsey Klausner also had 16 kills and 4 aces for Grayslake North (10-23). The Knights claimed wins over Elmwood Park and Woodstock.

Wauconda and Warren finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the eight-team field.

Maine West invite: Libertyville finished second in Maine West’s Pumpkin invite, as the Wildcats fell to Sandburg 25-22, 25-23 in the final.

Libertyville (24-5) was coached by assistant Jenny Smith due to head coach Greg Loika being out of town at his brother’s wedding. The Wildcats cruised through pool play and played tough, knocking off top-seed Stagg 25-19, 22-25, 25-12 before running out of gas in the finale.

Smith said the Wildcats “worked out of system due to passing breakdowns against Sandburg and that put them in tough offensive situations.”

“Sandburg is a great team,” Smith added. “The girls simply seemed to run out of steam after beating Palatine and Stagg handily in the quarters and semis. The positive take-away is that the girls continue to play well against strong teams, and Sandburg is a strong team.”

Julia Smagacz led Libertyville with 37 kills. Cindy Zhou had 89 assists (233-of-239 setting) and 25 kills.

Libertyville hosts Lakes in the North Suburban Conference title match Wednesday before hosting the Crosstown Classic as the top seed next weekend.

Lake Zurich (17-10) also went 4-1 at Maine West. Layne Self led the way for the Bears, piling up 51 kills, 35 digs, 16 blocks and 12 aces. Kristen Walding lofted 138 assists, while Mallory Parsons pounded 23 kills.