– Palatine regional-Dave Boze told it like it was.
”Most coaches would like to say, `I want another shot at them,` ” said the Fremd volleyball coach.
”Well, I had three shots at them and I don`t want another.”
Boze was talking about the Rolling Meadows Mustangs, who shot down Fremd 15-10, 15-1 Thursday night for the Palatine regional championship. The Mustangs (35-2) notched their third defeat of Fremd and their 31st straight victory. They face Schaumburg on Tuesday at the Fremd sectional.
”This takes some pressure off,” said Rolling Meadows coach Mike Duellman. ”No matter what happens, we`ve won a regional. If we win next Tuesday I`ll be tickled.”
For a while, it appeared the Mustangs might not make it out of the regional for the fourth year in a row. Uncharacteristically, they fell behind Fremd (26-6-5) 7-3 in the opener.
”We figured if we could get a lead, they`d crumble,” Boze said. ”They haven`t been behind too many times like that.”
”We came out a little tentative,” said Rolling Meadows captain Helen Joyce. ”But I knew we could come back. Maybe we needed something like that to show we work well under pressure.”
Led by Joyce`s serving and Debbie Lund`s attacking, the Mustangs scored the next nine points for a 12-7 lead. After Fremd closed within two, Lund served out the set.
Joyce finished the match with 17 assists and 4 service aces. Lund had 6 kills and 6 blocks, while Mary Kay Schmidt added 4 kills. Alison Fredin paced Fremd with 6 kills.
– Andrew regional-For Andrew (28-7), the regional championship showed that if there`s a will, there`s a way. The Thunderbolts won the title by beating Oak Forest 15-7, 3-15, 15-9, but they had to work for it. In the last game, Andrew took the lead 14-9, but it wasn`t until 14 sideouts later that the Thunderbolts finally won it on a kill by Debbie Skoda. ”We talked all night about the will to win,” said Andrew coach Barb Walaszek, who got 10 kills from Colleen Concannon and five from Skoda. ”Tonight it became our will to get that 15th point.”
– Richards regional-No. 4 Richards (33-4) beat Queen of Peace 15-1, 15-6 behind Margie Kolat (8 service points, 4 aces), Sandy Slepski (3 points, 2 kills), Sue Novak (6 aces, 8 kills), Diane Pirkle (7 points) and Evie Brennan (5 points).
– Homewood-Flossmoor regional-Cheryl Kossak had eight kills and Kristin Katterheinrich had seven kills to lead Rich South (17-10) past Rich East 15-6, 15-6 in the title game.
– Morton regional-St. Ignatius (23-8) defeated GCAC rival Maria 15-8, 15-13 with Nola Farley (7 kills), Tricia McNamara (5 kills, 5 aces, 5 blocks) and Karen Rugai (5 kills) leading the way.
– Highland Park regional-Behind Robyn Schenk (9 points, 5 aces, 6 kills), Christine Brown (8 points, 6 kills), Katie Schullian (7 points, 7 kills) and Courtney DeBolt (7 kills), Stevenson (29-6) pounded Lake Forest 15-8, 15-6.
– Bloom Trail regional-Renae Reichert (16 service points, 4 kills), Jill Durham (13 for 13 serving, 5 kills) and Lora Tucker (65 for 70 setting) guided Bloom Trail (27-10) to a 14-16, 15-6, 15-11 upset over No. 9 Marian Catholic. – Bradley-Bourbonnais regional-Rachel Repscak (9 service points, 3 aces, 6 kills), Sally Bertagnoli (9 setting assists) and Rochelle Thompson (6 points, 6 blocks) sparked Providence (25-10) to a 15-1, 15-7 rout of Lincoln-Way.
– T.F. South regional-Danielle Marek (10 points, 3 aces), Jessica Basta (5 points, 4 kills) and Emily Pino (11 of 12 setting) led Thornwood (18-8-1) over Seton Academy 15-2, 15-7.
– Plainfield regional-Joliet West (23-15) rolled over Joliet Central 15-10, 15-9 behind Jenny Bishop (14 service points, 3 aces), Alison Arnoldi (7 kills) and Tammie Beckley (5 kills, 4 blocks).
