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.”