Libertyville comes back, tops Loyola
NORMAL - It's not like Libertyville hadn't been in this position before.
So when Friday's Class 4A state semifinal came down to a third game, the Wildcats weren't about to panic.
Using the experience gained from losing the first game before winning the next two against Crystal Lake South in last week's supersectional, Libertyville roared back Friday to defeat Loyola Academy 21-25, 25-22, 25-11 in the second state semifinal at Redbird Arena.
The Wildcats (35-6), who finished fourth at state in 2007 and 2012, will play for the state championship for the first time at 8:55 p.m. Saturday against Benet Academy (40-1), which beat Normal Community in two games in the first semifinal. Benet, which is playing in its fourth straight state title match, defeated Libertyville 25-10, 25-18 on Sept. 20. The Redwings, second to Mother McAuley last year, will be seeking their third state title since 2011.
"For us the one thing that's been really good is that this team has shown it can fight with its back against the wall," said Libertyville coach Greg Loika, still battling the effects of strep throat. "When we finally figured out we could start playing and when we started passing better and executing our offense things came together."
The Ramblers (27-10), in a state final tournament for the first time, had all the momentum through the first game and well into the second.
After Christina Reed's kill put the finishing touches on the Game 1 win for Loyola, the Ramblers then rolled out to a 12-3 lead in the second game and appeared to be well on their way to meeting Benet for the championship.
But Libertyville mounted a comeback that, while it took some time, put Loyola on its heels as the second game wore on.
The comeback came in waves, the bulk of it coming between service rotations that saw sophomore Sinead Prentiss, then senior Mikaella Faber use a variety of kills from Liz Apgar, Francesca Fusco and Cornell signee Alex Basler to keep serve and eventually draw the Wildcats to within 18-14. A Ramblers hitting error made it 18-15 and gave serve to Apgar, and the Wildcats used kills from Fusco and Basler and an Apgar ace to tie the game.
After a Libertyville hitting error gave Loyola the lead back, 19-18, Anna Lillydahl's kill tied it again and with junior Erin Dunleavy serving for the Wildcats, a Loyola error made it 20-19 and the Wildcats never let go of the lead, forcing a third game when junior Hannah Zerwas put down a kill for the second-game win.
"A lot of teams would have rolled over down (12-3), especially after losing the first set," said Loika, whose team lost to Benet in the 2012 state semifinals. "But we talked all week about this being the most important volleyball match our school has ever played in. That's a lot of pressure to put on 15 girls but they responded and we're thrilled to be representing our school and our community in the state title match. All we needed was a little confidence and we found it."
Which is what Apgar said the Wildcats never lost.
"You have to have confidence in your team to push through but it was different in this arena," said the senior setter, who had 31 assists as well as 4 kills and 6 digs. "We just had to make some adjustments."
Zerwas led the Wildcats with 12 kills. Fusco added 7 kills while Basler had 6 kills and 4 digs. Sophomore libero Morgan O'Brien led the Libertyville defense with 18 digs, Faber had 11 and Dunleavy 10.
"We knew what was going on was our fault and our errors," Basler said. "We finally started to get some kills and started putting some points together. We've been playing together so long you just know when people are off and when people are playing their best."
Reed led the Ramblers with 10 kills and 13 digs. Lauren Stadler added 13 digs and Katie Randolph had 23 assists and 11 digs.
"It's tough," said Loyola coach Mark Chang. "We came out so strong and showed a lot of guts and showed the arena how we came to play. In the game of volleyball, it happens. There are moments of breakdowns and your opponent can get a stream of points going that you can't recover from. Our serve receive broke down and we're usually a very strong serve receive team which allows us to have a very effective offense."
Randolph gave all the credit to Libertyville.
"They took our momentum away," she said. "They're a really tough team mentally."
Which is something the Wildcats hope they can carry into Saturday's title match - a contest Loika says his team isn't just happy to be in, but expects to win.
"We have a lot to lose," he said when asked if the Wildcats would play with a nothing-to-lose mentality. "We have the state championship to lose. (Benet) took it to us pretty good when we played them but we know them from the experience of playing them the last few years. We're not going in there to change anything. We're here to win."