Fremd - September 29th

From The Daily Herald:

Fillies clinch tie in MSL West

Senior’s Night was extra special for the Barrington girls volleyball team Thursday because it also clinched a tie for first in the Mid-Suburban West.

With a 25-19, 26-24 triumph over visiting Fremd, the Fillies improved to 8-0 in the West and 14-7 overall. They have a two-match lead over Schaumburg (6-2) with two to play.

Seniors Chelsea Nagle (6 kills), Jennie Cramer (5 kills), Siedah Thompson, Rosanna LaPorta and Courtney Wilson all contributed at least 1 kill for the Fillies, who will try to clinch a sixth straight berth in the MSL championship game when they visit Hoffman Estates on Thursday.

Junior Autumn Worozaken led Barrington with 9 kills and setter Lexi Zimmerman (60-of-61) handed out 30 assists and also had 4 kills.

“It was really a great night because the seniors all got a lot of playing time,” said Fillies coach Kathleen Russell, whose club stretched its West winning streak to 54 in a row.

More Homecoming Parade Information

• The girls should wear their new sweatshirts and jeans and gym shoes (not their volleyball shoes).
• Lexi & Autumn will provide their wrangler convertibles for the coaches to drive. A few players can ride with the coaches. (Kathy Steiger will ask around to see if any other volleyball families have wrangler convertibles that they would like the coaches to drive along).
• The cars will all tune to the same radio station and provide stereo music to accompany the marchers.
• The cars can be decorated with posters and helium balloons.
• The large Volleyball sign can be carried by girls. (We need to take care of this expensive sign).
• The girls should save decorations from Senior Nite and carry posters and balloons for a festive effect.
• There will be a large bag of candy in Lexi's car. There will also be individual bags for each girl. Each girl should take some candy in a bag with her so that she can throw it out during the parade. Each girl can also take one of the small volleyballs and throw that out as well.
• Kathy Steiger will check with Paul Gillette to ascertain where and when the girls should meet. Lynn Barton got the float registration and approval to throw out the candy.

More info here.

St. Charles East - September 29th

From The Daily Herald
By John Leusch

The Village People blasted from the ceiling speakers and the Barrington girls volleyball team danced. It wasn’t a post-game celebration. Nor was it a pregame ritual.

It was a St. Charles East timeout.

The Fillies (13-7) were so close to the top of their game Wednesday that their coaches had little to say during the Saints’ timeouts. Instead, the reserves formed a circle and the starters danced within it.

They carried the energy out with them back to the court and finished the job of avenging an early-season loss to St. Charles East with a 25-17, 25-18 victory at home.

“I think this is the best we’ve played,” Barrington junior setter Lexi Zimmerman said. “It ended up being a hit-fest. Their blocking wasn’t that good and our hitting was really on tonight.”

Zimmerman did her own part in making that happen.

With a recent change in Barrington’s system, Zimmerman has more of a chance to show off her athleticism and get involved in the team’s hitting and blocking.

It worked to perfection against the Saints (9-11) as Zimmerman, who has already committed to Michigan, finished with 6 kills, 3 blocks and match-high 21 assists.

“That’s one of the reasons I became a setter,” Zimmerman said. “You have the most control of what you do. It’s really awesome when you make the right choice and the middle (blocker) isn’t there.”

Autumn Worozaken (9 kills), Natalie Barton (5 kills) and Chelsea Nagle (5 kills) were among Barrington’s hitting leaders.

The Saints led 15-13 in Game 1 but Barrington outscored them 12-2 the rest of the way.

“They were dancing on the bench (during timeouts),” said Barrington coach Kathleen Russell. “That’s doesn’t happen very often. If we win big in a game, it seems we get comfortable. This time they came out fighting. That’s a big improvement for us.”

Homecoming Parade

The BHS Volleyball teams will be marching in the Homecoming Parade this Saturday, October 1st.

The teams should meet at the train station at 8:15am, wearing their red sweatshirts with jeans or black warmup pants. They will walk and throw candy. We will also have the volleyball banner and 2 jeep vehicles that the coaches will drive.

October 7th - Northwestern vs. Penn State & Laura Holloway

On Friday, October 7th after school the girls (all teams except varsity, who will have a tournament in St. Charles) will be taking a bus trip to Northwestern University in Evanston. Northwestern will be playing Penn State and Laura Holloway, a senior from last year, who plays for the Nittany Lions.

Laura is really excited that we are coming to cheer her on and the girls will really enjoy the experience of seeing a college game, and one of their own playing in it!

Boosters has generously donated the bus for us so all the girls need to do is bring $5-10 for admission and treats.

Schaumburg - September 27th

From The Daily Herald

Nagle is Fillies’ ace card
By John Leusch
Daily Herald Sports Writer

It was fitting that Barrington senior Chelsea Nagle finished Tuesday’s volleyball match against visiting Schaumburg with an ace.

After all, serving has been the main focus in the Fillies’ recent practices. The practice paid off as they missed only 3 serves and recorded 8 aces in a 25-19, 25-16 victory.

The Fillies’ 53rd straight win in the Mid-Suburban West gives them a 7-0 record this fall, two matches ahead of Schaumburg (12-7, 5-2).

“They’re (Schaumburg) definitely one of the most competitive teams in the conference,” Nagle said. “We’re always excited no matter who we play, but we knew we had to be serious for this match.”

Nagle led the Fillies (12-7) at the service line with 4 aces while Natalie Barton added 3.

“We’ve been working on serving aggressively and consistent,” said Nagle, who also had 2 kills. “We’ve been serving from farther back to make it tougher for the other team to pass.”

Junior Autumn Worozaken paced the Fillies’ attack with 7 kills, followed by Barton (6) and Amy Raseman (3).

The first game was tied for the first 7 points before Schaumburg took control 11-7. The lead grew to 16-12 on an ace by sophomore setter Drewann Pancratz.

But the Fillies battled back and 4 straight service points by Nagle put them ahead 17-16.

After the Saxons tied the game at 17, Barrington went ahead on a kill by Lexi Zimmerman (47-48, 17 assists) and never trailed again.

Nagle delivered an ace and Zimmerman set up Worozaken for a kill and 20-17 lead.

“Schaumburg came out really strong,” Worozaken said. “You could tell they were gunning for us, so it was important to get ahead and take away their excitement.”

“Obviously we were concerned about (Amy) Reichel (Saxons’ standout middle hitter),” said Barrington coach Rob Ridenour, who was filling in for head coach Kathleen Russell (illness). “When you serve well, you take the middle hitter out of the game. And Lexi (Zimmerman) did a nice job matching up in the middle.”

Barrington jumped ahead 5-1 in Game 2 but the Saxons evened it at 5-5 when Pancratz (12 assists, 12 digs) lifted a set over her head to Reichel (6 kills) for the kill.

Moments later, Nagle served 3 straight points for a 10-6 lead and the Fillies never looked back.

Zimmerman made a quick pop-up set to Worozaken for a back row kill and 21-14 advantage. A kill by Deanna Sanchez (5 kills, 8 digs) cut the lead to 22-16 before Nagle served out the match.

“We’ve been working on our serving,” Ridenour said. “We’re not the biggest blocking team so we’ve got to serve tough. It all came together tonight. Missing only 3 serves had to be close to our best effort yet.”

Keesha Duminie added 2 kills and libero Stacey Wernert collected 9 digs for the Saxons, who visit Palatine today.

“The disappointing thing is that we’re not playing to win,” said Schaumburg coach Jeanette Pancratz. “We had some serving errors that didn’t help. And our passing was erratic. The bottom line, though, is that we can overcome those things. We play hard but we’re not going after it. We need an edge, we need kids to compete and lay it on the line.”

At Palatine - September 21st

From The Daily Herald:

Fillies Win In Three
By Kathy Rudolph
Daily Herald correspondent

In the second game of this MSL West matchup between Barrington and Palatine, the host Pirates showed a glimpse of just how well they can play the game.

But there was never much doubt as to who would wind up on the winning side of this one.

Behind a balanced attack, Barrington went on to take a 25-18, 21-25, 25-10 victory.

That gave the Fillies a 12-6 record on the season and ran their record in the West to 6-0. They have now won 52 consecutive conference matches.

However, while winning has become a habit for Barrington, complacency hasn't.

“Today they were more excited than they've ever been,” said Barrington coach Kathleen Russell. “In the third game, they showed even more excitement.”

That came after Palatine (7-6, 2-4) took the second game behind the outside hitting of Natalie Butler (7 kills), some outstanding defense and the serving of Kaitlyn Gallagher.

With Barrington leading 12-7, a couple of errors and an overlap violation made it 12-10. Gallagher then jump-served 4 aces in a row to put her team in front 14-12.

"We just sat back on our heels," Russell said.

Barrington tied it at 15-15 on a rollover ace by Chelsea Nagle (5 kills, 4 aces), but a tip by Elaina Ziehm put Palatine back in front for good. The game ended on a kill and another ace by Gallagher (6 kills, 6 aces) and a kill by Kelli Urban (4 kills).

“Our servers went on some runs and we passed the ball well on serve receive,” said Palatine coach Dawn Shepherd. “When our serve receive breaks down, we struggle.”

That happened in the third game and Barrington didn't waste time taking advantage.

The Fillies went out to a 4-0 lead on a kill by Jennifer Borchers (6-for-6, 6 kills) and 3 errors. Leading 14-5, Autumn Worozaken (9 kills) scored 3 of the next 4 points on a tip and 2 aces.

Conant - September 20th

From The Daily Herald:

Fillies turn back inspired Conant
By Mike Eaken
Daily Herald correspondent

Barrington was pushed to the limit on Tuesday night but continued its Mid-Suburban League girls volleyball winning streak.

Conant gave the Fillies all they could handle as the decisive third game was tied at 22-22.

That’s when Autumn Worozaken provided a much-needed spark, scoring 2 points on kills before match point as Barrington claimed a 25-22, 18-25, 25-22 victory. It was the Fillies’ 51st consecutive win in the West.

“Autumn brings such a fire to the team,” said first-year Barrington coach Kathleen Russell of her junior outside hitter. “They really don’t talk about the streak, they talk about how they will play as a team. They just want to win.”

Barrington (11-6, 5-0) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the final game and was clinging to an 11-9 lead before Conant (8-8, 2-3) scored the next 5 points to take a 13-11 advantage.

A gritty Cougar squad held an 18-16 advantage when Barrington’s Lexi Zimmerman (3 kills) and Natalie Barton (4 kills) led the Fillies to a 21-18 lead.

But Mandy Michna came up with a clean kill for Conant to tie the score at 22-22.

Worozaken (20-of-22 on attack, 6 kills) then came up with her 2 deciding points.

“It was a little shaky,” said Worozaken, who admitted the streak has made the Fillies a marked team. “It feels like there’s a target on us and everybody is pumped up to play us. We have to fight for it — we have more to lose than everybody else.”

Zimmerman (30 assists) also sparked the Fillies in her setter role.

“Once we step on the court, all we talk about is volleyball,” said Zimmerman of her team’s focus. “The intensity level picks up.”

The Fillies led the first game 24-19, before the Cougars went on a 3-0 run to narrow the deficit to 2 points. But Jenny Borcher had a kill to give Barrington game point.

Michna had 10 consecutive service points to lead Conant to a 13-2 lead in the second game. The Fillies had a number of unforced errors in the game, which led to the decisive game.

Alexa Hansen (7 kills) and Kailey Kassner (5 kills) supported the Cougars with a strong showing around the net.

“The girls did a phenomenal job,” said Conant coach Peggy Scholten, who won her 502nd match on Saturday. “They’re not going to fall apart. These kids are here to battle and here to compete.”

Some Varsity & Sophomore Pics

Thanks to the Pappas' for these pictures (click to enlarge, right click and "Save As" to download):

Hoffman Estates - September 14th

The varsity Fillies kept their record perfect in the MSL West by downing the Hoffman Estates Hawks 2-0 in a home match. Barrington breezed in the first game, 25-17, but found the going tough in the second. Battling back from an 8-1 deficit, the Fillies rallied to take the hard fought second game 25-23. The match win makes Barrington 4-0 in the MSL West with a home date next week against Conant.

Schaumburg - September 8th

The varsity Fillies rose from the ashes of their defeat at Cary-Grove to stampede the Schaumburg Saxons 25-15, 25-18 at Schaumburg High School.

Some pictures from the varsity and sophomore games (click to enlarge, right click and "Save As" to download):