Girls volleyball: Glenbard South aces Larkin
Glenbard South is hitting its stride as the girls volleyball season heads into the final couple weeks, winning for the third time in four games Thursday night at Larkin.
The Raiders started the season with a difficult nonconference schedule. And they have struggled with slow starts.
Glenbard South didn't have any trouble with that against the Royals, jumping to an 8-1 lead in the opening set and 13-5 in the second on their way to a 25-11, 25-12 victory.
"We talked about winning the game to five, winning the game to 10, and that's really the first time we've done that all year," Glenbard South coach Chad Grant said. "So that was really positive for us.
"And it's always nice when your entire roster gets to contribute in a game."
Larkin (0-5, 0-4 in the Upstate Eight) had its moments but also got caught in a couple tough stretches when the Raiders (3-8, 3-2) rattled off several straight aces.
In the first set, Izzy Wilder served three straight aces to extend a 10-2 lead to 13-2.
Glenbard South had 6 aces in the first set, then fired 11 more in the second. Again they came in bunches - Alex Wilharm served four over a seven-point stretch to build an early lead, and Amelia Lake pushed the spread to 21-8 with four more.
"We served aggressive and put it in places where we thought they weren't," Raiders junior outside Brittany Miller said.
"I feel we are playing more as a team and supporting each other more and playing as one."
The Raiders closed the match when Sofia Alcala put down a ball after Abby Miller's set.
Brittany Miller paced both teams with 7 kills.
"Our setters Abby Miller and Helen Maurer did a good job spreading it around," Grant said. "We're headed in the right direction. I feel good moving forward."
Larkin coach Mattie Boyd saw several bright spots from her team. The mistakes that led to Glenbard South's string of aces happen with her team's inexperience.
"It's a lot of mental points with this team," Boyd said. "They start making those errors and they get down on themselves. But there are some really good moments and I'm starting to see a lot of players who haven't played on varsity making those good plays."
Freshman outside Morgan Miller is one of them. She had 3 kills, second to teammate Ava Willigman's 4. Kaitlin Turner and Lilah Hanson both served 2 aces.
Boyd, who played her first two years at Larkin before transferring to St. Charles East, is excited about growing the program at her former school. But it has been especially challenging this spring season. Just 37 players came out for all levels, down from 60, as other sports and jobs have conflicted with the volleyball season.
"I want to come back and build the program and start getting some athletes in there and girls who are excited to play volleyball," Boyd said. "It's definitely a tough year with shorter practice times and very few of my girls have ever had varsity experience. A lot of them have jobs and it's really tough and our seasons are overlapping with so many other sports. This season is all about being flexible and doing the best we can and getting the most reps as we can."