Girls volleyball: Stevenson claims title at Peggy Scholten Classic
Tim Crow says his Stevenson girls volleyball team is one of the best practice clubs he has coached in 21 seasons.
The Patriots sure proved it on Friday and Saturday.
Just one week earlier, the Pats were not even in the top eight in the 16-team Libertyville tournament.
Practice made them a perfect 5-0 this weekend.
The Patriots were the champions of the Peggy Scholten Classic, another 16-team event hosted by Conant and Fremd high schools.
Led by Columbia University recruit Amanda Holsen's match-high 16 kills, the Pats defeated St. Charles East 25-22, 25-23 in the title match to raise their record to 7-6.
"Our practices have been great," Crow said. "It just hasn't translated in matches but it kind of finally did this weekend."
Holsen had 18 kills vs. Schaumburg, 18 vs. Wheaton St. Francis, 15 vs. Fremd and 7 vs. Lake Zurich to help lead the Pats to their 5-0 record after entering at 2-6.
"She had a monster tournament," said Crow, whose team won all five matches in two sets. "I think our kids are understanding their roles better and doing their jobs better so that takes a lot of pressure off Amanda. She can still be herself but now she doesn't have to worry about another position besides her.
"Honestly, we have a couple of kids playing out of position. Ania (Waszynska) was an outside and is now playing right side and Allison (Katnibikov) is a middle playing right side. It's taken a while for them to learn their roles and they're only going to expand on them."
Crow said the team's confidence at serve receive has made a big difference.
"The girls' decision-making in that area is so much better," he added. "They've learned to relax."
One key player at that position was sophomore Mija Jegers, who had 7 digs and 1 ace against St. Charles East.
"It's amazing," Jegers said of the Pats' turnaround. "We've used our energy to play better and work better as a team rather than individually. This feels great and we just want to keep pushing forward."
" I think Mija had a sensational tournament at serve receive," Crow said. "She is just a difference-maker in our serve receive game and from the service line. She has done an awesome job and I've liked how our decision-making has gotten better from our setters (Abby Minin and Lilli Wangard on Saturday), too."
A kill by sophomore Kendra Dziubinski gave SCE an 11-5 lead in the first set but Stevenson rallied and took a 20-15 lead on Holsen's tip.
Another kill by Holsen gave Stevenson set point at 24-21 and moments later a kill by senior Michelle Gonchar ended it.
The second set was tied at 7, 9, 10, 11 and 12 before three straight service points from Gonchar put the Pats in front 15-12. After a timeout by Saints coach Jennie Kull, Holsen put down her fourth straight kill to make it 16-12. Down 22-16, SCE got back to within 22-20 on a kill from junior Julie Ferrandino. Down 23-20, SCE received three straight kill or block points from senior Isabella Mosquera to tie it at 23. But Waszynska's kill of a double block and a back row attack violation ended the match in Stevenson's favor.
"It was a great tournament for us," said Kull, whose team (4-1 in tourney) is 5-2 overall. "I'm so proud of the girls. I think we played well at the beginning and at the end. We've just got to play better in the middle. We battled back on Friday from a 24-17 deficit against Naperville North and again today when we were down 24-20 (in semifinals vs. Maine South). I thought Isabella stepped up and Lia Schneider (libero), too. She is the real deal."
Stevenson defeated defending tourney champion Fremd (6-1) in the semifinals 27-26, 25-22.
The Vikings went on to defeat Maine South 25-10, 25-19 for third place.
Fremd was led on attack in the tourney by Rylen Reid (45 kills), Sam Gump (22 kills), Victoria Belmonte (16) Claudia Wala (12) and setter Rian Baker (11).
Maine South (9-4) went 3-2 and is off to one of its best starts in five years under coach Kathleen Durkin.
"Elizabeth Ryser (5-foot-11 MH) has the most kills and blocks for us and Madeleine Riggs (6-foot senior RS) is our tallest player and she has picked up a big block and a nice line shot," Durkin said. "It's been nice seeing her using that for kills. We saw good competition here and in our Plainfield North tourney last week so we are excited for the rest of the season. "
Naperville North defeated Lake Park 25-18, 25-20 for sixth place while St. Francis stopped Conant 25-22, 25-18 for eighth place.
In pool play, Fremd topped Lake Park 26-24 25-18 on Friday.
"We saw some great competition here in Fremd and St. Francis," said Lancers coach Brian Fischer. "We took Fremd to the wire in the first set and that was kind of an awakening for our girls that they are good enough to hang in with teams like that. So I think we gained a lot of confidence which is good to have early in the season. Cailin Shannon and Kateryna Hlkyut (juniors) do a great job for us. They were both starters last year and Cailin was on varsity as a freshman."
St. Francis went 2-3 and stands at 5-3 overall.
"We have a lot of young players," said seventh-year coach Lisa Ston. "We start three sophomores and a freshman so we are really working hard to create consistency on the court."
Coach Drewann Pancratz' Cougars went 2-3 in the tourney and are 5-3.
" We love these early tournaments," she said. "They expose a lot of your weaknesses so you can go back and practice in those areas. We saw a lot of positive things, too. I'm proud of the girls. They're getting better and better every day.
"Toward the end of this tournament we got better with serve receive. Our setter (sophomore Gianna Spekta) did a good job moving the ball around. Our middles are working real hard transitioning so we are starting to utilize them a little more which is good to see."