advertisement

Maine South edges out Maine West

It was a heartbreaking end to Maine West’s girls volleyball season, but coach Randy Tiller was proud of his team’s progress throughout.

The No. 7-seeded Warriors led 24-23 and 25-24 in Game 3 but the No. 3 Hawks rallied for a 25-11, 25-27, 27-25 victory in the Class 4A Maine South regional in Park Ridge.

“I’m proud of how much the team improved over the season and how well they played tonight,” said Warriors coach Randy Tiller. “Both teams made about the same number of errors. It came down to earned points. They earned 2 more points than we did.”

The Warriors (16-20) were led by Allison Grzebien (7 kills), Magda Czerlonko (4 kills), Alyssa Suriano (3 kills), Julia Huinker (2 kills, 2 blocks), and Kassidy Riportella (2 kills, 2 aces, 18 assists).

In Set 3, Czerlonko served match point and the Hawks tipped it to the floor.

At 24-24, the Hawks served and Grzebien killed it for a 25-24 advantage.

Collins then served the second Warrior match point but South got the point on a hitting error.

At 25-25, the Warriors passing crew couldn’t handle the ball. The Hawks then served and won their first match point.

“We had a plan,” Tiller said. “We knew they were a more experienced team. We tried everything we could to wear them down emotionally in three sets, like we did early in the season.

“We’ve fought all season in very close games. When we played them (Maine South) in September, we won two 2-point sets. When Abbi Donovan served and Magda (Czerlonko) made the 2 kills to tie the set, I thought we would do it again. Magda made the pressure serve at match point. Brittany (Collins) made her pressure serve at match point. We had chances to win the deciding set.”

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.