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Girls volleyball: Bartlett sweeps its way to U-46 title

While Bartlett swept it way to the championship of Saturday's U-46 Volleyball tournament, Streamwood had to hold off a feisty Elgin Academy squad in its last game to take second place.

The Hawks won all four of their games in the round-robin tournament in two sets.

Bartlett coach Robert Schwantz was impressed with the play of newcomer Bria Lomax and the return of Dakota Johnson. The senior is back after ACL surgery.

"Lomax, our middle, was amazing," Schwantz said. "And Dakota Johnson looked really good."

Lomax liked her team's chemistry.

"We played really well, I was proud of us," said the freshman. "As a team, we just jelled really well together."

Dominating the tournament allowed Schwantz to give all his players court time.

"Winning it all was number one but I also wanted to get everybody in. I wanted to see everybody as much as I could," said Schwantz. "Some of the matches started to get a little close so I couldn't get people in as much, but we do have a pretty solid group of backups."

Bartlett raised its overall record to 5-0.

Elgin Academy, fresh off its first tournament win - a three-set victory over Elgin - won the opener against the host Sabres. Streamwood then rallied to take the next two sets to win the game and secure second place.

"We looked a little tired. We came out strong against Larkin after our lunch break. They had a lot of spunk and energy. We wavered just a little bit in our first game against Elgin Academy," Streamwood coach Shelly Mueller said. "Then they turned it around. (After the first set) we talked about their energy and consistency and they came out strong in the second two."

The Sabres went 3-1 in the tournament to raise their overall record to 3-4.

The tournament was the first time the Hilltoppers (1-3) played this season.

"Our goal was to come out here and be respectable and I was really proud of the girls because they were in every single match," said Elgin Academy assistant coach Deborah Maursich. "They gave a battle and there weren't any big sweeps."

Larkin, which scored the most points (19) on Bartlett, finished third. The Royals (2-4) won their first two matches, already surpassing the total number of victories for the last two years, and dropped the last two.

"The two matches that they won is more than they won in the last two years so I'm happy with today, 100 percent," first-year coach Mattie Boyd said. "In the first two matches I was pleased with how they played together as a team and had a ton of energy. That's what I am looking for."

Although Elgin (0-5) was winless in the tournament, coach Amy Zapata liked what she saw on the court. The Maroons graduated all of last year's starting lineup.

"This is a brand new team to varsity. This tournament was all about them learning the pace and the flow of the game," Zapata said. "Kimberly Aguirre, our setter, did a good job of getting the balls mixed up in different places. Deiria Myles stepped into a couple different spots trying different things. She was middle, she went outside. She's really becoming a versatile player."

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