Hersey battles past Rolling Meadows

As the 12-time defending Mid-Suburban East girls volleyball champion, Hersey hopes going after No. 13 this fall isn't the unlucky season in which the dominance ends.

So the Huskies started with the same passion as always in their conference opener on Thursday night.

They defeated a host Rolling Meadows squad which sure put up a tougher fight. In 2014, Hersey didn't allow Meadows more than 14 points in any of the four sets the two teams played.

The Huskies had to persevere a lot longer in both sets this time before posting a 25-22, 25-22 triumph, their 18th straight win in the East.

"They're a pretty good team," said Huskies senior Liz Fuerst, who put down 6 kills with 7 digs and 2 aces. "It was great for us to have an opening match like this. We have a lot of passion as a team and wanted to make a statement in our first match."

"Rolling Meadows has improved a lot and I knew that going into the match," said Hersey coach Nancy Lill, who has guided the Huskies to a remarkable 70 wins in their last 71 East matches.

"Joe (Disilvio, Mustangs coach) has been here a while now and has the program taking off. I knew this would be tough.

"A lot of our girls were ill this week and didn't practice. But they stepped up for the match. We told them they just had to give everything they had for 90 minutes, and they did. That's all I can ask."

The fans couldn't ask for much more, either, as both sets provided excitement to the finish.

Despite falling behind 11-3 following a pair of service points by senior Gianna Carusiello, Meadows (6-4, 0-1) charged back and was within 23-21 when senior Hannah Mickey put down one of her team-high 5 kills.

A kill by senior Katie Rozanski made it 24-21 before Meadows got to within 24-22 on a big block by Mickey.

But the Huskies (5-4, 1-0) were able to close it out when Zoe Strozewski blocked an overpass.

Set 2 started out closer, as the teams were tied at 5-5 before Fuerst served five straight points, including a pair of aces to put Hersey in front 11-5 and force Disilvio to use his first timeout of the set.

The Mustangs charged back again and edged into a 14-12 lead on 2 service points from Mickey.

Two service points by Liz Solans got the Huskies back on top 15-14 and then came the play of the night.

Meadows senior setter Megan King took a pass and while running away from the net, extended her arms over her head and delivered a no-look attack that fell perfectly to an open spot on the other side of the net to tie the set at 15.

"I don't know if I've ever seen a better dump from a setter," Disilvio said. "That was sneaky and smooth."

The set was tied at 17, 18 and 19 before Hersey went ahead for good on a service error and block by Fuerst.

Leading 24-22, Rozanski put down a set from Maggie Reisel for the match winner.

Rozanski (6 kills, 2 blocks) was one of the Huskies who had been ill during the week and saw limited practice time.

"Katie had a big night," Lill said of her 5-foot-11 senior middle blocker. Juniors Emma Frankiewicz and Solans led the Huskies' defense with 14 and 10 digs, respectively.

"Communication is what really helped us whenever we got down," Frankiewicz said. "We had a positive attitude on the court all the time."

In addition to Mickey, Jenny Snark (4 kills), Megan Mich (3), Maddie Sellergren (3) Gabrielle Paige (3), King (2), Madeline Rebsamen (1) and Meghan Slowik (1) were also putting the ball down on the court. Srnak contributed 3 blocks.

Disilvio liked the confidence and poise his team showed.

"It seemed like we had a clam about ourselves like we could pull it out," Disilvio said. "Hersey is really good at putting pressure on you and things didn't always go our way at times.

"It was an exciting match. Whenever you play a good team you want to win, but the next best thing is to be in it and competitive like we were."

Other top attackers for Hersey were Amy Morgan (4 kills), Mary Claire O'Shea (3) and Zoe Strozewski (2). Reisel handed out 11 assists while teammate Emma Strozewski had 8.

"We wanted to make a statement in our (East) opener," Lill said. "I was concerned going up against Meadows. But the girls stepped up."