Girls volleyball: Hersey's up to Wheeling's test

This was one match Hersey's girls volleyball team knew it could not afford to lose.

"Had we lost, it would have been nearly impossible to defend our conference championship," said Hersey coach Nancy Lill.

Instead the Huskies made it possible with one of their finest efforts of the season on Thursday night at the Ken Carter Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.

With 5-foot-8 junior outside hitter Amy Morgan putting down a match-high 7 kills, the Huskies rose to the occasion and avenged an earlier Mid-Suburban East three-set loss at Wheeling by defeating the Wildcats 25-18, 25-13.

It means the two teams are now tied for first with 6-1 records. However, by winning in two sets the Huskies are in the driver's seat to play for the MSL title.

Should both teams win out and become co-champions, Hersey would get the nod to play in the MSL championship game due to the tiebreaker (head-to-head sets between tied teams).

"We'd been practicing so hard for this match and you could tell the atmosphere was amazing when we walked into the gym," said Morgan, who also had 8 digs was 10-of-10 serving with an ace. "We were so pumped up. We wanted to start off strong and that's exactly what we did."

That strong start came after Bob Coniglio's fine rendition of the national anthem and 16 points into the first set.

The Huskies trailed 9-7 and then scored 5 straight points to take the lead for good.

A point from freshman serving specialist Kaiya Eshoo, brought up from the junior varsity, tied the set at 9-9. Eshoo then added two more points on kills from Morgan before an ace made it 12-9.

Morgan also had the kill which got Hersey to within 9-8.

"Amy played with such heart and character," Lill said. "I can't say enough about her. It was the best performance I've seen from her."

Hersey (17-4) stretched the lead to 19-11, with points 15 to 19 coming on service points from Morgan including an ace.

The Wildcats (17-8) never got closer than 6, and it was Morgan who put down the set winner, with a spike that went off the Wildcats' block.

Wheeling also lost the first set to Hersey the first time the teams meet but then won 20-25, 25-23, 25-16.

"We had energy (this match), we were home and I thought we played amazing this time," Morgan said. "It wasn't just one person carrying us and we were able to bounce back from any mistakes we made."

A service point by Kamila Staniszewski (3 kills) and a kill by Timber Terrell (4 kills) gave Wheeling a 2-0 lead in the second set.

But Hersey forged ahead for good at 6-5 on a service point from Maggie Reisel.

The senior setter proceeded to serve 2 more points (kills by Mary Clare O'Shea and freshman Kati Kaburov) for an 8-5 advantage.

Kati Kaburov's ace increased the advantage to 10-6 and the hosts gradually extended the lead the rest of the way.

Reisel ran the show for the Huskies, handing out 20 assists with 2 blocks, a pair of perfect dumps and 5 digs.

"Maggie was unbelievable," Lill said. "She ran the offense beautifully and kept Wheeling off balance."

She used all her hitters, as Kaburov put down 5 kills, followed by Zoe Strozewski (5), Sammi Steger (2) and O'Shea (2).

"Those were two big ones (kills) by Mary Clare," Lill said. "

"Zoe (Strozewski) was a monster in the middle," said Reisel, who delivered multiple quick sets which her 6-foot-1 classmate put down for points.

"That match was so fun," Reisel added. "I thought we played on fire. We never gave up on a ball. It was such a team effort."

Never giving up on a ball in the back row was Liz Solans (14 digs), the Huskies' senior libero who has stepped in for classmate Emma Frankiewicz (broken hand), who Lill hopes can return for the postseason.

"Liz has stepped up tremendously," Lill said. "She is leading the team in serve receive and she has been phenomenal with her defense."

Leading the Wildcats' defense in digs were Hala Fakhoury (6), Jazmyn Veloso (5) and setter Jessica Janowski (5), who also served an ace and handed out 8 assists.

"We just weren't there tonight," said Wildcats senior Shannon Kennedy, who was 4-of-4 serving and collected 3 digs. "It was more of just not executing than anything else."

"We are still in it (East race). Our mindset isn't going to change just because of one match. We're still going to come back and be ready to play the rest of the way."

The Huskies are going for their 14th straight MSL East title and Wheeling seeks its first division title since 1980."

"We knew this was a huge match," Lill said. "We were motivated to change the outcome of the first match we played against them."