Another invitation to success for Stevenson
Saturdays are fun.
Ask Stevenson’s girls volleyball team, which has won all four invitationals it has competed in this season.
The Patriots’ latest conquest was the two-day Lake County invite, which ended Saturday and was co-hosted by Libertyville and Warren. Stevenson’s 25-18, 25-16 win over Libertyville in its finale avenged a regular-season defeat to the North Suburban Conference champs.
Liza Pflugradt and Khaila Donaldson had 7 and 5 kills, respectively, for Stevenson (32-3) against Libertyville (29-6). Elizabeth Shancer totaled 9 digs and 2 aces, and Alexa Bykowski dished out 12 assists and also served 2 aces.
Stevenson also captured two-set victories over Wauconda, Mundelein, Deerfield and Grayslake Central. Donaldson had 5 aces, 5 kills and 9 digs against Grayslake Central, while Pflugradt pounded 10 kills and Shancer recorded 15 digs. Jenna Radtke delivered 4 aces.
Other tournament highlights for the Patriots included 6 kills apiece by Radtke and Donaldson against Mundelein and Pflugradt’s 9 kills against Wauconda. Anne Geocaris racked up 4 kills and 2 aces against Deerfield.
Warren’s 25-23, 25-23 win over Grayslake Central gave the Blue Devils fourth place. Libertyville topped Warren 25-11, 25-18 earlier in the day. Jaimie Dickinson had 12 kills and 5 aces in Warren’s pair of matches Saturday, while Kendall Farmer put down 8 kills. Paige Jespersen served 4 aces.
Grayslake Central (22-13) fell to Stevenson 25-19, 25-14 and lost to Lakes 25-19, 25-27, 15-9 Friday night. Gabi Casper had 27 kills and 35 digs for the Rams, Maria Treto totaled 36 digs Meghan Brewster had 13 aces and set 231 of 232 with 61 assists.
“This is our best finish in school history,” Grayslake Central coach Jason Janczak said. “Our girls played hard against some tough teams. I’m proud of the way they played.”
Vernon Hills (13-22) received 29 kills, 11 blocks and 8 aces from Shannon Nugent and 24 kills from Jenn Claussen in going 2-3.
Antioch (20-15, 3-3) received 25k ills from Sam Falco and 21 from Madeline Johnson, while Marissa Grant contributed 71 assists and 14 aces.
“It was a good tournament for us, as we started to compete and play as a team,” Sequoits coach Glen Heitman said. “We passed as well as we have all year, had the highest hitting percentage we have had all year and served 92 percent with 47 aces.”
Mundelein (14-20, 2-3) got a good tournament from Sarah Bregenzer (23 kills, 12 aces, 8 blocks). Courtney Perrault pounded 22 kills for the Mustangs, while Madi Wilcox lofted 69 assists and served 8 aces.