Up until Thursday night, Lake Zurich’s volleyball season seemed pretty forgettable–the Bears had a 10-24 record and a 2-11 conference mark that left them tied for last place in the Fox Valley Conference.
Lake Zurich had no reason to believe it would leave Conant with a regional championship. But the Bears soon will display their school’s first volleyball trophy after upsetting the host school 15-12, 15-5.
“This is awesome,” said Lake Zurich coach Shannon Killion. “At practice, we talked about getting a trophy and a regional championship pennant placed on our gym wall. This is just amazing.”
The match, symbolic of the Bears’ season, started off poorly for Lake Zurich as Conant jumped to a 6-0 lead in Game 1. But three blocks by Anne Tierney, a kill by Katie Berwanger and an ace put Lake Zurich up 8-6 and swung the momentum permanently. The 6-foot Tierney and 5-11 Berwanger combined to finish 28 for 30 in attack attempts to go with 13 kills and 11 blocks.
“We could not stop them up the middle,” said Conant coach Peggy Scholten. “They came out to play, and we did not make enough adjustments.”
Lake Zurich advances to the Palatine sectional. Conant, which finished 28-8-1, was led by Kristen Fisk (seven kills) and Jamie Maiello (six).
Other Class AA regional results:
Downers Grove South: Top-ranked Downers Grove South (32-5) captured the title with a 15-4, 15-6 victory over Hinsdale Central. Chantel Reedus led the way for the defending state champs with nine kills, and Kelly Baker had six.
Shepard: Jenelle Hart (11 kills), Janet Golen (10) and Regina Morrone (24 assists) powered No. 3 Stagg (32-5) past Andrew 15-9, 15-8 in the final.
Streamwood: Vicki Lublow’s 18 kills, Jenny Fisher’s 10 and Rebecca Ooyen’s 32 assists powered eighth-ranked Larkin (34-1-1) past Schaumburg 15-11, 15-7.
Buffalo Grove: No. 9 Palatine (33-4) cruised past Fremd 15-9, 15-4 with 10 kills by Vesna Grbavac and 16 assists by Kate Gates.
Warren: No. 10 Warren (33-2) topped Zion-Benton 15-5, 15-7 with April Peterson’s 10 kills and Kim Wooster’s 23 assists.
East Aurora: Jordann Tomasek had eight kills, six digs, one block and one ace and Jessica Cortesi added six kills, two aces and 13 digs as Waubonsie Valley (22-9) rolled past Joliet 15-13, 15-3.
Glenbrook South: The host Titans (24-4) captured the title with a 15-5, 15-5 sweep of Niles North. Senior Courtney Bathgate had six kills and Pam Gottfried 14 assists to lead Glenbrook South.
Hinsdale South: Laura Zimmerman’s 11 kills and Jenny Randa’s 31 assists sparked the host school (19-15) in its 9-15, 15-10, 16-14 triumph over Lemont.
Loyola: Ten kills by Shante Haymore, eight by Alexa Rockomanovich and 25 assists by Barbara Schultze helped Regina (25-4-1) eliminate Loyola 15-12, 15-12. Loyola finished 24-7.
Mother Guerin: Jackie Baine had 15 kills and six digs and Mary Bauer chipped in six kills as Trinity (17-15) swept the host Gamblers 15-8, 15-11. Mother Guerin finished 25-9.
Naperville Central: In a semifinal, the host Redhawks (34-2) beat Naperville North 15-5, 15-6 and were led by Elizabeth Gower’s eight kills and 28 assists. Central will play Glenbard South (28-5-2), which beat Benet 15-13, 15-9, in Saturday’s final. Glenbard South was paced by Meghan Barkman’s 12 kills and Mary Sabatino’s 26 assists in its victory.
Resurrection: The host Bandits (25-11) used seven service aces and 12 assists from Stephanie Brogan to sweep Maine West 15-9, 15-6.
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Rolling Meadows: Rolling Meadows (20-17) defeated Lake Park 15-6, 9-15, 15-13 as Shellie Hoffman had 12 kills and Erica Vigadi 10. Rolling Meadows advances to the Addison Trail sectional. Lake Park finished 12-20.
St. Charles: West Chicago (25-12) downed Batavia 15-7, 15-8 with Kelly Kaylor’s 10 kills.
Class A volleyball regionals
Westmont: Katie Virtue had eight kills and Beth Rodriguez chipped in four kills and three blocks as No. 3 St. Francis (32-4) swept Wheaton Academy 15-6, 15-5. Up next for the Spartans is Mt. Assisi, a 15-3, 15-12 semifinal victor over Westmont.
Leland: In semifinal action, Sandwich swept Somonauk 15-1, 15-5 with Beth Boss’ five service aces and Melissa Griesmann’s 10 assists.
Holy Trinity: Qiana Young’s 12 kills helped Holy Trinity (20-11) defeat University High 12-15, 16-14, 15-12 and gain its first 20-win season in school history. Holy Trinity takes on Latin, a 15-12, 15-7 winner over Luther South, Saturday.
Class AA soccer sectionals
Conant: Top-ranked St. Charles (21-2-1) beat Hoffman Estates 2-0 in a semifinal as Steve Erd earned his 10th shutout. Hoffman finished 9-7-5. . . . Conant edged Glenbard North 2-1 in a shootout for the right to play the Saints, the defending state champs. Mike Grygo tied the game 1-1 in regulation for Conant, and Ken Harte stopped the first shot in the shootout.
Barrington: Nuru Weimah scored his 29th and 30th goals of the year to lead No. 8 Lake Zurich past the host Broncos 3-1. The Bears (19-3-2) play Cary-Grove, which needed a shootout to get by Crystal Lake South 4-3, Saturday.
Lyons Township: Chris Kasang scored the game-winner with 5:54 left in double overtime and assisted on Mike Vidmar’s second-half goal as No. 9 Lyons (15-3-4) rallied to beat Oak Park 2-1. The Lions play Morton Saturday.
Downers Grove South: Downers Grove South (11-7-5) edged Downers North 1-0 on Dave Mack’s first-half goal. Steve Szymanski made 10 saves en route to his 13th shutout for the Mustangs, who will face Hinsdale Central in Saturday’s final. . . . Mark Schaefer and George Sisson each scored as Hinsdale Central (12-6-3) shut out Hinsdale South 2-0. South finished 10-10-1.
Naperville North: Robby Berkley scored twice on assists from Adam Klitzke and Adam Hitchman as Waubonsie Valley shut out Joliet 2-0.
New Trier: Glenbrook South edged New Trier 3-2 in overtime with Vito Ungaro’s game-winner. . . . Luke Bigelow tallied with 8 minutes left to give Evanston a 2-1 victory over Glenbrook North.
Class A soccer sectionals
Bremen: John Denham earned the shutout for St. Joseph (12-5-1) in its 5-0 semifinal victory over the host school.
Fenwick: Francis Parker eliminated Holy Cross 1-0 with Daniel McCormick’s goal.
Hinckley-Big Rock: Chad Huggins and Joe Acksel scored to give the host Royals (20-4) a 2-0 victory over Malta (13-10-1). . . . In the other semifinal, Brent Johnson had a goal and two assists for Earlville (18-5) in its 4-1 victory over DeKalb (12-8-1).