Girls volleyball: Hopper jump-starts Libertyville against Lake Forest

Libertyville volleyball player Kellie Hopper embraces the pressure.

Luckily for the junior outside hitter, she has a solid vertical jump.

"My last name is Hopper so I get up a little bit," Hopper joked. "I have to."

Libertyville, loaded with skilled players and an ample amount of leapers, jumped out to big lead against Lake Forest in the North Suburban Conference rivals' semifinal match of the Class 4A Warren sectional on Monday night. That was contrary to the last time the two teams met, and, as a result, the Wildcats were in control throughout their 25-16, 25-18 win.

Top-seeded Libertyville (29-9) will play No. 2 Cary-Grove (31-9) in Wednesday's 6 p.m. final.

"I think we have a little bit more in the tank," Hopper said after tallying a team-high 7 kills to go along with 2 aces and 8 digs. "We were struggling a little bit with our offense, but I think if we can clean that up a little bit, we can be unstoppable."

Libertyville bolted to a 9-4 lead in the opening set on lefty Peyton O'Brien's high-arching ace that handcuffed the Scouts, and the Wildcats' serving proved to be a big factor in their win.

They served 8 aces, including three by junior outside hitter Alannah Howell. The effectiveness at the serving line helped compensate for a Wildcats offense that wasn't as efficient as usual.

"When our passing is there, we can go to a lot of places, and that makes it pretty hard to defend with any size block," Wildcats coach Greg Loika said. "It wasn't their strongest swings, but we were making sure we found open spaces on the court and making (Lake Forest) defend. We won the long rallies, and that was what was going to be important tonight."

Ella Schaffnit and Kaylie Stuteville had 5 and 4 kills, respectively, for Libertyville. O'Brien delivered 13 assists and added 8 digs, as did libero Olivia Sauers.

"We were just trying to pick apart Lake Forest's defense, be smart with the block and not just swing on every ball," Hopper said of the Wildcats' attack. "Sometimes we were just going too aggressively on balls we didn't need to."

An ace by Sauers had Libertyville up 5-1 in the second set, and the Wildcats kept a comfortable margin. A dink by Hopper and another kill, this one by Howell, ended the match.

"I think we did a really good job on the defensive front," Loika said after his Wildcats beat the fourth-seeded Scouts for the second time in three weeks. "We had a hard time getting into an offensive flow that felt good to us, but our block was mostly doing its job."