Hersey prevails despite strong BG effort

Traditional Mid-Suburban League girls volleyball power Hersey was looking to keep its record perfect in the East Division when Buffalo Grove visited on Thursday night.

"They have a real good history," said Bison senior Sara Tolvstad. "We knew it would be hard."

But the Bison (3-14, 0-8) still made it hard on the Huskies in Set 2 before the 12-time defending champs were finally able to put away the match 25-15, 25-23 in their Ken Carter Gymnasium.

"I give Buffalo Grove credit," said Hersey coach Nancy Lill, whose team improved to 17-5 and 8-0 in the East, one match ahead of Prospect (7-1). "They are much better than their record. They played hard and really pushed us."

The Bison led 17-11 in Set 2 thanks to three straight service points from Anna Fasuna, including back-to-back aces.

However, the Huskies rallied behind the serve of Emma Frankiewicz and got to within 18-16 on a kill by 5-foot-11 senior middle blocker Katie Rozanski, who led Hersey with 6 kills (7-of-7 attacking).

"Blocking was huge for us," said Rozanski, who had two blocks herself. "Liz (Fuerst, who had 4 blocks) really set the block up well, and overall it was a great blocking effort by everyone. Our most important thing is to block because that gives relief to our defense."

Frankiewicz helped spark the defense with 15 digs, followed by Fuerst (7) and junior setter Maggie Riesel (4).

BG led 19-17 when Lill inserted 5-11 sophomore Emma Strozewski into the lineup for her first action in a week.

"She had severe migraines and hadn't even touched a volleyball," Lill said. "It was nice to get her back on the floor."

Strozewski contributed a block and 3 assists as part of the Huskies' match-winning really. Her block tied the set at 21-21.

A kill by sophomore Amy Morgan made it 23-21 before Tolvstad's team-high seventh kill made it 23-22.

Morgan went left to right for a crosscourt kill and 24-22 Huskies' lead.

BG got back to 24-23 on a hitting error before the Huskies locked up the match when Rozanski put down a crosscourt kill right to left.

"Now we have to keep executing and playing strong," Rozanski said "We've played together so well this season so that's an amazing bonus. It's been a big team effort."

The team effort included 5 kills from Fuerst followed by junior Zoe Strozewski (2 kills and Mary Clare O'Shea (1).

Riesel had 10 assists while freshman Alessia Olhava handed out 4. Zoe Strozewski also had 4 blocks.

"Our blocking was great," Lill said. "The first set was wonderful. In set two, we went into a funk. We had unforced errors and were out of system bit."

In addition to Tolvstad's 7 kills, Dana Stutzman added 6 along with 8 digs fro BG. Kiarra Akiyoshi collected 14 digs while Fasuna (13 assists) and Hannah Schuler (11 assists) set the offense. Fasuna also served 2 aces.

"I don't think anyone gave up," Tolvstad said. "We gave it our all and it was probably one of our best matches. They are a really good team so we had to be strong and play our best, and I think we did. It just wasn't enough."

"We played some good volleyball at the end," said Bison coach Matt Priban. "That's how we are supposed to play. We have been struggling so it was nice to come out and almost play to our potential. That's what we keep looking for. We want to keep improving and I think we are getting there."