Eileen Fleming and her Lyons Township teammates aren’t ones to leave much to chance.
That’s why in practice they devote as much attention to serving as any other facet of the game.
That devotion paid off Saturday as the top-seeded Lions collected 11 aces and advanced to sectional play with a 25-10, 25-3 sweep of Von Steuben in the Class 4A regional championship at De La Salle.
“We really focus on tough serving as one of our team components,” said Fleming, a senior defensive specialist who had six aces. “Our assistant coach George Ushela gives me zones on places he think are the most beneficial to serve to. So I just try to serve there and get my strongest and toughest serve.”
The Lions (23-13) move on to Thursday’s one-day St. Ignatius sectional, with a berth in the Nov. 4 Andrew supersectional on the line. Lyons has reached the supersectionals each of the last three years, losing each time to the eventual state champion.
“Hopefully we’ll keep playing as well as we have been (and get back),” Fleming said.
The Lions never trailed in either game. Junior middle hitter Rachel Levitt paced the Lions with six kills, Slivinski had five and senior middle Kerry Fox added four.
