Senior night for the Highland Park girls volleyball team was a celebration for those playing their final season — and what better way to celebrate than with a convincing win over rival Deerfield High School.
The Giants came out strong and never let up, defeating Deerfield 25-10, 25-12 at home last week, overwhelming their opponents with strong outside hitting and solid play at the net.
“It was nice to get a win on senior night,” said Highland Park head coach Beth Peterson. “We were a little off at the start of the second game — maybe emotions got to them a little bit — but I think we moved on from our mistakes and played a really solid game.”
Highland Park scored the first four points of the match, finishing with the first of what would be six kills by senior outside hitter Stela Kukoc in the first game. The lead would grow to 7-1 after two straight kills from senior outside hitter Kathleen McKean. Deerfield, at a size disadvantage, wasn’t able to find a way to stop the 6-foot-1 Kukoc, 5-foot-9 McKean and Highland Park’s two middle blockers, 5-foot-10 sophomore Jocelyn Spizman and 5-foot-11 junior Mattie Giese.
The Giants grew the lead to 16-6 and really put the game away with senior setter Alison Perlman serving. They won four straight points, featuring a kill by Kukoc, a block by Kukoc and Spizman, another kill by Kukoc and an ace by Perlman. Deerfield junior outside hitter Melissa Dolins finally ended the run with a kill of her own, and the teams traded points until Highland Park’s Giese finished the game with a kill.
The second game was much closer, with Deerfield scoring the first point and taking a 5-3 lead thanks to some solid blocking by senior middle hitter Lauren Tonner and junior right hitter Natalie Behling. But Highland Park then went on two runs of its own. With Spizman serving, they won three straight points, and senior setter Megan Litt served five straight points to help grow the lead to 12-6. Kukoc had what was perhaps the biggest hit of the night to give the Giants a 14-7 lead, and two plays later, she teamed with Giese for block to make it 15-8. The score was 23-12 when Carly Korman had a strong block to put them one point away, and McKean finished the game with a kill.
“I think Stela, Mattie and Jocelyn in the middle are all doing a really nice job,” Peterson said. “We’ve been working on our defense at the net, so to have Carly come in and finish the match with a really big block, that was really cool. … We’ve worked really hard at our passing and I think that is improving as well.”
The win put the Giants at 11-10 for the year.
“I think we have some positive momentum heading into the second half of the season,” Peterson said. “We beat Glenbrook North Tuesday night, so right now in conference we’re 5-2 and that’s a good place to be. I just thing we’re going to get stronger as we move on.
“We’ve had some injuries early on,” she said. “Two girls who were starters at the start of the year were injured and still aren’t back. So the other girls have really had to step in and fill those roles, and they’ve been playing well together.”
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She also credited her strong senior class for their success this year.
“Half of our team is seniors,” Peterson said. “I’ve had Alison Perlman and Stela Kukoc with me since they were freshmen, so it was a super important night for them. They’ve worked so hard during the season and the off-season to make it happen, providing really solid leadership. Julie Bloom brings a lot of positive energy to the court and is doing a nice job as a libero for us this year.”