At Lake Zurich - October 4th

From The Daily Herald:

Berwanger leads Lake Zurich to thrilling win

The Lake Zurich girls volleyball team sleepwalked through the start of its home match Tuesday against Barrington.

The Bears lost the first game 25-18 and trailed 16-8 in the following game.

“We knew we could play a lot better than that,” senior Lauren Sandelin.

Which is exactly what the Bears proceeded to do.

Lake Zurich rallied and took the second game 25-23 and then won a wild third game 28-26 to earn a significant victory going into tonight’s seeding meeting for the regional.

“We want to get a top-four seed so we don’t see Prairie Ridge in the regional,” Lake Zurich coach Michelle Jakubowski said.

The Bears quickly erased their deficit in the second game behind strong serving from senior Meghan Zins.

With the score tied 20-20, the Barrington bench was given a red card. By rule, Lake Zurich was awarded a point and led 21-20.

Lake Zurich strung together three more points before Natalie Barton came through with a kill. After surrendering two more points, Lake Zurich senior Jen Berwanger’s kill put the game away.

“I told the girls to take (the point) and go,” Jakubowski said. “That was huge.”

Lake Zurich (15-7) and Barrington (15-8) played great in the third game.

Berwanger, who had a match-high 18 kills, came through with several key Lake Zurich points.

“It’s no secret where we’re going, and she really came through,” Jakubowski said.

Added Berwanger: “My teammates helped me a lot by talking and telling me where the blockers were.”

After going through a lull in the second game, Barrington played focused and emotional volleyball the rest of the way.

“We were more intense and when we made mistakes they were aggressive mistakes,” setter Lexi Zimmerman said.

Lake Zurich enjoyed leads of 20-15 and 24-20 but could not put Barrington away. The Fillies’ Autumn Worozaken, who had 3 of her 8 kills in the final game, recorded an ace to give her team a 25-24 advantage.

A Berwanger kill tied the score at 25-25 and the Bears went ahead 27-26. This time, they were able to close out Barrington on a kill by Sandelin.

“I was a little nervous, but I wanted the ball,” she said. “I put it over and it worked out.”

Barton’s 9 kills topped Barrington. Zimmerman had a big all-around game with 28 assists, 3 blocks and 5 digs. Jennifer Borchers contributed 3 aces.

For Lake Zurich, Crystal Wright had 6 kills and 4 aces.

“It felt like were going through the motions early,” Berwanger said. “(Fortunately), we really picked it up.”