Classic victory for Libertyville
Libertyville’s girls volleyball team will head into the state tournament with plenty of momentum after winning the Crosstown Classic.
The Wildcats outlasted Mundelein 15-25, 26-24, 25-8 in the final Saturday to capture their first tourney championship this season. Libertyville (25-10) had not won the Crosstown since 2007.
In the final, Libertyville fought off 3 match points in Set 2 to force a third. The Wildcats then used service runs by freshman libero Morgan O’Brien and Carly Ostmeyer to push the lead from 7-3 to 20-5.
Freshman setters Sinead Prentiss and Sarah Leonard filled in this weekend and “ran a balanced and strong offensive tournament alongside senior setter Cassie Ostmeyer,” coach Greg Loika said. Rhiannon Prentiss (33 kills), Alex Basler (28 kills, 10 blocks) and Kate Jarecki (27 kills, 8 blocks) again paced the Wildcats on attack.
Libertyville has won 20 of 23 matches since starting 4-7. The Wildcats might see Mundelein again next week in the Waukegan regional, where they are the No. 4 seed. Monday’s winner between No. 13 Mundelein and No. 20 Wheeling will play Libertyville at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Waukegan.
Mundelein (17-18) finished 4-1 in the Crosstown, upsetting Stevenson 26-24, 14-25, 27-25 in the semifinals. The Mustangs — whose other wins were against Vernon Hills, Zion-Benton and Lakes — were led on attack in the tournament by Sarah Bregenzer (36 kills) and Yasmeen Johnson (27 kills) and Emily Dunkin (21 kills). Madi Wilcox racked up 101 assists and 8 aces. Taylor Lintner contributed a team-best 8 blocks, while Johnson and Dunkin had seven apiece. Bregenzer led the Mustangs in aces with 11.
Stevenson (28-7, 4-1) rebounded from its semifinal loss to beat Warren 25-19, 25-14, as Khaila Donaldson pounded 10 kills, posted 10 digs and served 2 aces. Kara Maleski added 8 kills, 2 solo blocks and 4 assisted blocks. Alexa Bykowski served 3 aces.
Donaldson put down an incredible 20 kills in the Patriots’ three-set loss to Mundelein, while Maleski totaled 10.
Antioch defeated Highland Park 25-23, 25-22 for fifth place, and Lakes outlasted Wauconda 25-13, 22-25, 25-23 for seventh. Grayslake Central (23-12, 2-3) lost the ninth-place match to Zion-Benton 25-22, 25-21. Alex Dahlstrom had 40 kills for the Rams in the tournament.
At Lyons: Lake Zurich capped its regular season by winning the tournament with a 5-0 record, as Mallory Parsons pounded 41 kills.
Kristen Walding tallied 17 kills, 125 assists, 8 aces and 6 blocks for Lake Zurich (31-4). Sydney Glover and Kiley McPeek added 28 and 21 kills, respectively. Ashley Dina rang up 107 digs for the Bears, and Allie McIlwain contributed 19 kills. Lake Zurich needed three sets to beat Minooka and Glenbrook North. The Bears bested Shepard, Palatine and Lyons in two.