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.”