Girls volleyball: Barrington powers its way past Palatine for regional crown
As a starter for Barrington's third-place finisher in volleyball last fall and for the Fillies' Class 4A runner-up in girls basketball earlier this year, Gwen Adler obviously knows something about competing in the postseason.
The Fillies senior setter certainly knew how to get the top-seeded and host Fillies back on track when they fell behind for the only time in Thursday's Class 4A regional championship against Palatine.
Her five straight service points, including 2 aces, erased a 6-3 deficit in Set 2 and the Mid-Suburban League champs went on to post a 25-10, 25-15 triumph to advance to Monday's first semifinal of the Warren sectional. They will face No. 12 Grant (21-10) at 6 p.m. with No. 2 Glenbrook South (31-1) against No. 3 Libertyville (29-8) to follow.
"We realized we were down there and as a team we had to push through and just overcome that," said Adler (9 assists, 8 points), who expects to be committing to a collegiate volleyball program soon. "And we did that. I've gotten third in volleyball and second in basketball so I'm due for a first."
The Fillies won a regional for the 16th time in program history and a second straight under ninth-year coach Michelle Jakubowski.
Arizona recruit Jess Horwath led the Fillies' offense with a match-high 9 kills and 7 digs while junior Jenna Meitzler added 4 kills with 6 assists and 11 digs. Senior middle blocker Sydney Louis contributed 4 blocks.
"It's always someone different," said Jakubowski, whose state-ranked Fillies' only loss is to Huntley on Sept. 21. "They do a great job of always having someone step up. The girls are very focused and they know what they want. It's awesome to see and I'm very proud of them."
After a sterling rendition of the national anthem by referee Darnall Jones, Fillies junior Sarah Jensen served the Fiilies to a 10-2 lead.
Her first four points, including an ace, a kill by Meitlzer off a 10-foot backward set from Adler, another ace and a 4-hit violation, made it 7-2 and prompted a timeout by the Pirates.
Jensen (8 points, 3 assists, 2 digs) came back with three more points, including another ace and 2 hitting errors.
Palatine was forced to call another timeout and five points later, following an ace by Meitzler and back-to-back kills down the line by Jess Horwath, the Fillies led 14-3.
A terrific save by Jensen kept a rally alive for the Fillies and allowed them to eventually win the point on a Horwath kill that made it 19-5.
With Meitzler serving, a kill by Horwath ended the first set at 25-10.
Barrington grabbed a quick 3-0 lead in Set 2 behind the serve of junior Molly Kozak, getting one point on a big block by Berkeley Ploder.
But the Pirates fought back with Brianna Sequo at the service line. The senior served 5 straight points for a 6-3 lead.
The big run included kills from Amber Piebanski and Lyons.
"Everyone really had moments," said Pirates coach Dan Gavin. "Everybody made plays we needed to make. We just needed to make more."
Freshman Zoe Johnson made a big play when her block ended Adler's big service run.
However, Hope Regas' sideout kill followed by her three service points put the Fillies in charge 13-7. The Pirates, who received 3 kills in the match from Mia Hanson, never got closer than 5 the rest of the way.
"I'm extremely proud of how our girls competed in Set 2," Gavin added. "They really showed me the passion that is inside them. That's a great team on the other side of the net. We knew we were giving up some things against them size wise and experience wise,
"We had a game plan. We did not execute it as well as we would have hoped but it wasn't for lack of effort. The girls left their hearts on the court and that's all you can ask for as a coach."