Stevenson Comeback Trips Scouts for Sectional Title

Stifling disappointment and feeding off the energy of success, the girls’ volleyball team came from behind twice to defeat top seeded Lake Forest Thursday to advance to the Lake Zurich Supersectional at 7 p.m. Saturday against Cary Grove.

The Patriots overcame two losses to the Scouts earlier this year and a 25-18 dubbing in Thursday’s first game to take the Buffalo Grove Sectional championship, 18-25, 25-20 and 25-23.

“We never let our mistakes get us down,” Patriot Liza Pflugradt said. “We stayed focused and played ball by ball, point by point. We kept getting more and more excited each time we scored a point.”

Lake Forest Coach Ray Werner knew going into the game the key to the Scouts success was putting the tension of playing for a sectional crown for the first time in at least 10 years out of their heads. They lost the battle.

“We didn’t relax. They (Stevenson) did a better job of it,” Werner said. “We got a little tense in the second and third games and couldn’t shake it. It was a good job by Stevenson. They are a good team."

One Patriot who did exactly what Werner wanted his team to do was Rachel Baader. She finished the game with 14 kills after notching 16 in Stevenson’s semifinal victory over Hersey Tuesday.

“Every time they had a big kill we didn’t let it stop our momentum,” Baader said. “When we had a big kill we just kept building our momentum.”

Lake Forest setter Heidi Sierks recognized the difficulties the Scouts had handling the momentum shifts in the game. “We got nervous,” she said. “We tripped up on defense. They were hard to stop.”

With the teams tied at a game each, Lake Forest jumped out to an 11-7 lead in the third and seemed to be in control. Stevenson took a time out and on the next point Michelle Schroeder of Stevenson tipped a ball over the net to narrow the lead to 11-8. She finished the game with two kills and a pair of aces.

Then it was Pflugradt’s turn to serve. She took the Stevenson on a run that secured the match and the championship. She started serving with her team down 11-8 in the third game. By the time she was done the Patriots were ahead, 13-12. They never trailed again. She had five kills and two aces for the night.

“Their energy level was unbelievable,” Stevenson Coach Tim Crow said of his team. “They stayed mentally in the game. We figured out their system and accounted for it.”

Once Stevenson grabbed the lead, Baader took control of the game for the Patriots. Eight of her kills figured in her team’s last 13 points. Three were light touch finesse shots.

“I was using smart shots,” Baader said. “I had to be smart because (Mary) Striedl and (Tori) Lanzillotti are strong hitters. I was able to see the ball real well and put it where they weren’t.”

Crow felt his team’s two earlier losses to the Scouts helped in the Sectional final. “It’s tough to beat a good team three times,” Crow said. “I’ve been on both sides of that. It worked in our favor this time.”