Girls volleyball: Barrington battles past Hersey in MSL title match

Barrington's remarkable run in Mid-Suburban League girls volleyball championship matches continued on Thursday night at Hersey's Ken Carter Gymnasium in Arlington Heights.

And it wasn't all that unexpected as the Fillies came into the showcase event with a 33-1 record, a lofty state ranking and one of the top players in the state in the University of Arizona beach volleyball recruit Jess Horwath.

The MSL West Player of the Year put down 9 kills with 11 digs to help lead Barrington to a 25-18, 25-23 victory over the scrappy Huskies.

It gave the Fillies a second straight title and 14th in 17th appearances in the 52-year history of the showcase event.

Their only losses were in 1978, 1992 and 2005.

"They (Hersey) were really scrappy," Horwath said. "I thought they did a great job of picking up crazy kind of balls and keeping us on our toes. That was really great competition to see. That was helpful for us so we can get challenged and be ready to move on."

Thursday was the ninth time since 2000 that Barington and Hersey played for the crown. Barrington won the eighth time, having also earned crowns in 2000, 03, 04, 06, 11, 13 and 21.

"Coach J (Michelle Jakubowski) does a really great job scheduling us, runs really great practices, knows when to push us and when to get us going," added Horwath, who recently went over 1,000 career kills. "That's been a really big part of it and part of it and the culture we've developed of having that love for each other on and off the court is really, really big. We've made that our tradition and we are going to keep that going."

Hersey got going in the first set after trailing 8-3. An ace by Abriella Wolff pulled the Huskies into a 9-9 tie. The set was then tied at 10, 11 13, 14, 15 and 16 before the Fillies took the lead for good on a block by Sydney Louis, making it 17-16. An ace by Sara Jansen and a kill by Horwath extended the lead to 19-16.

Hersey got to within 19-17 on a kill by Leah Nawrot before the visitors closed the set on a 6-1 run.

The second set provided drama all the way through as the two teams were tied from on every point from 4 through 12 before Hersey nudged ahead 14-12 on an ace by Lily Semerau and a Barrington error which included a terrific backward third-hit save from the back row by MSL East Player of the Year Erin Dela Riva. That was followed by another great save by Semerau on the same rally. Hersey led by 5 points twice at 19-14 and 21-16 thanks to an ace Eileem Chavez. A kill by Berkeley Ploder began a match-winning 9-3 run by Barrington.

Trailing 22-18, junior Hope Regas (5 kills, 4 aces) stepped to the service line and recorded 5 straight points, including 3 aces, to make it 24-23.

"I just had to take a few deep breaths," Regas said. "I had to calm down and serve the ball over. I envisioned where I wanted the ball to go and that really helped."

After a service error made it 24-23, the Fillies got the winning point when Colette Garrels passed up to Adler who set Horwath from 12 feet away for the match-winner.

"Hope did an awesome job," said Jakubowski, who also received 10 assists and 3 kills from Jenna Meitzler and 4 digs from libero Molly Kozak. "She goes back there and serves aggressively and out of a timeout she serves an ace (making it 24-22). I'm super proud of her. That was awesome."

Now the Fillies own one of the best records in the state heading into the postseason.

"We talked about being 34-1, that's not bad," Jakubowski said. "We talked about how we are 34-1 today and tomorrow we are 0-0 like everyone else. So they know that. Enjoy today, but tomorrow is postseason time and everyone has the same record. They understand that."

Hersey's record stands at 22-9 after going 10-0 in the MSL East.

First-year coach Laura Gerber started just one senior, opposite hitter Kami Wojtanek, who had a block to give Hersey a 4-2 lead in the second set.

"My first year at Hersey and we were 10-0 and these kids are great," said Gerber, who had been the Prospect coach. "They were super welcoming and I could not be prouder of how they played. It's really a good group of kids."

Hersey was playing in its 27th conference championship.

"I thought our team picked up balls we hadn't had all season. And they did a great job blocking and getting up at the net. I thought they played fantastic. We were in the match and then we missed five serves."