Girls volleyball: Libertyville takes down Barrington in 3
It's not the ideal formula for Libertyville coach Greg Loika. But it still works.
Libertyville beat Barrington 25-15, 22-25, 25-10 to win the Class 4A girls volleyball regional title Thursday at Barrington.
Libertyville (28-9), which is the top seed, will meet fourth-seeded Lake Forest Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the Warren sectional.
For the third time in the state playoffs this year, Libertyville came out like world beaters in the first game. The Wildcats then lost the second game before pulling away in the third game as they returned to being regional champs after missing out last season.
"That sort of has been a pattern for us all season," Loika said. "We come out super strong and then sort of find a hiccup. We relax a little, maybe a little too much. We are trying to figure that out. Then we struggle to get back in it.
"But I was proud of our girls. We were at their place and momentum was with them and we came back strong."
Libertyville appeared to be unstoppable in Game 1. Leading 4-3, the Wildcats rattled off 9 consecutive points thanks to 3 aces from Peyton O'Brien.
"This is a match where we wanted to prove ourselves," O'Brien said. "We are all coming together. We all knew our strengths. I tried to move the ball around better in the last game. My coach was hounding me on that and I was able to do it."
Alanah Howell added 3 more aces down the stretch while Ella Schaffnit and Claire Taranowski each had aces as Libertyville finished with eight in the opening-game win.
"We were moving the ball around very well on our serves," Howell said. "We worked on that in practice to prepare for this team."
Barrington (19-18) made sure it would not go home after just two games.
After the second game was tied 13 times, Libertyville pulled ahead 20-18. The Fillies then scored 5 consecutive points with an ace by Arianna Copertino and kills by Noelle Daehler and Jessica Horwath. Barrington went on to force a final game with a 25-22 victory.
Copeertino's ace got Barrington of to great start in the final game. But it was all Libertyville from there.
Leading 3-2, Libertyville scored the next 6 points on its way to a 16-3 run as the Wildcats opened up a 19-5 lead.
"We prepared so hard for this game and worked on open spots," said Schaffnit, who led Libertyville with 9 kills. "I was just looking around the blocks. We worked on certain spots to hit to and that's where I aim for."
Kellie Hopper had 8 kills, Cassidy Jones had 6 kills, Kaylie Stuteville 3 kills and O'Brien had 3 kills and 24 assists.
Daehler led Barrington with 9 kills. Campbell Paris and Horwath each had 6 kills while Felicia Guagliardo has 20 assists.
"We were young and we showed a little tiredness," said Barrington coach Michelle Jakubowski, who starts two freshmen and a sophomore.
"It was a great experience for us. To go to three games with the number one seed is very good. We wanted more, but we didn't have enough in our tank."