Tashima, New Trier serve up title win over Evanston

Sophomore's 4 aces help Trevians defend Summer's End crown

The New Trier girls volleyball team adopts a different theme for each season, inspired by head coach Hannah Hsieh.

This year the back of its warm-up T-shirts bears the slogan "Think Big, Dream Big, Play Big."

The Trevians could have added one more phrase to that one – Serve Big.

The New Trier girls volleyball team repeated as champions of its own Summer's End Tournament Saturday by beating Evanston 25-18, 25-12 in the finals. (Photo by Nic Summers www.SportsStarPhotos.com)

Sophomore Taylor Tashima's four blistering aces did most of the damage for the host team, now perfect on the season overall at 6-0. Six kills from Katie Fauntleroy and five by Brittani Steinberg did the rest of the damage in an early-season rare showdown for the two rivals. They'll meet twice more during the Central Suburban League South season, one reason Hsieh didn't mind making a statement even though it's only the first week of September.

"We knew we'd probably see Evanston today, so our goal was to play as well as we could against them," Hsieh said. "We tried to keep it in perspective as to what we wanted them (Evanston) thinking when they left here. We don't normally see them in the finals here, but this year we changed the (pool play winner) matchups so we'd get a chance to play Glenbrook North in the semis instead of the finals.

"We had nine serving errors in our match against GBN, so it was a lot better in this match. We know we have some great servers, but we've struggled with so many errors so far. The goal is to have no more than two errors in a match – and more aces than errors."

Hsieh said Saturday's triumph marked the first step for a team that only has two returning starters and, in some regard, is still learning how to win big matches.

"We want them to think about the big possibilities that are out there for them this year," Hsieh said. "We want them to conceive what it will be like to get Downstate even before we actually get there. I really think they were able to rise to the occasion today. We want them to think about placing (high) in every tournament we play in this year. We talk a lot about what our potential is as a team."

New Trier's Haley Fauntleroy goes for a kill against Evanston in Saturday's Summer's End Tournament championship. (Photo by Nic Summers www.SportsStarPhotos.com)

"I think what this tournament showed above all else is how well we're working together as a team," said Steinberg, a junior outside hitter. "We're always there to pick each other up if someone is off, and we've really meshed well so far. I'm not surprised, but I didn't think it would happen this quickly.

"I knew I'd be getting the ball a lot more this year, so over the club season I really worked hard. I went into every practice thinking I had to get better for the high school season. I worked a lot on becoming a smarter hitter, on placing my shots and not just getting up and whaling on the ball."

With New Trier already leading 18-12 in the second set, Tashima, the gifted sophomore setter, applied the finishing touches. She scored on a tip, added two ace serves and also set up Fauntleroy for a kill as part of a 7-0 surge to close out the match and clinch the first-place trophy. She finished with 16 assists and four kills.

"This is a really big step for us as a team," Tashima said. "This year we're looking to push through and get back to super-sectionals. I thought all of our passing was really good today, and we had really good chemistry on the court. Everyone was working together. It's really fun to get to play Evanston because a lot of their players are on the same club (Wildcat Juniors) I'm on. And I think this kinda sets the tone for the rest of the season. We know they'll come on strong when we play them in conference, so we just need to come on stronger.

"I worked on my serving accuracy a lot during the club season, and I worked on targeting zones. I'm stronger and taller this year, and my serve is stronger, too."

Evanston, which advanced to the title match by knocking off Loyola Academy for the second time this season (27-26, 25-18), dipped to 10-2 due mostly to the Wildkits’ inability to handle New Trier's serves.

"New Trier did a good job against us. They played well, and serve receive was definitely an issue for us," Evanston coach Pam MacPherson said. "We didn't serve tough enough either, so they were able to run their offense much better.

"It's not a great thing to be matched up against them because I don't like to play against conference teams in tournaments. We see them a lot as it is. One of two things will happen for us out of this, either it will scare them about playing New Trier again, or it will make them mad. I hope we'll be more competitive next time. I hope they have that competitiveness in them."

Martha Murray paced the Wildkits with five kills.

Glenbrook North

Glenbrook North's Abby Shamis sets the ball during the Summer's End Tournament Saturday at New Trier. (Photo by Nic Summers www.SportsStarPhotos.com)

"Yesterday (Friday's pool play) we were able to get into a little bit of a rhythm as we went along, but after a pretty good start today against New Trier, we just couldn't get anything going," Cooper said. "We were too predictable on offense against New Trier and we couldn't get into any kind of rhythm against Loyola.

"We do tend to be predictable playing a big team like New Trier. Any team can put up a pretty big block against you if they know where the ball is going. And when you get teams thinking about the block like we were, even if they weren't getting many actual blocks, that's half the battle. It changes what you normally do on offense."

GBN did put up a fight in the first set against the eventual champs, trailing just 23-21 when sophomore Kate Kamin whistled an ace serve off a New Trier defender. But the Trevians closed out the game with a kill and a block, and also regained control after GBN whittled a seven-point deficit to just three in the second game.

Patricia Hare led the Spartans with four kills in that match and also tied teammate Kathryn Schmidt for team honors with three apiece as the Spartans’ offense struggled in the Loyola loss.

"Right now we're having trouble with our consistency from one rally to the next," Cooper said. "It's frustrating because it doesn't seem like we can stay focused from one point to the next."

Glenbrook South

Glenbrook South's Lisa Mahon goes for a block against Warren during the Summer's End Tournament. (Photo by Nic Summers www.SportsStarPhotos.com)

"We didn't finish where we wanted to finish. We wanted to be in that championship bracket," Hoover said. "We learned what we need to work on as a team here, and one of the things we need to work on is being more confident in our serve receive.

"In that third set against Warren, we just couldn't get any offense going. We got stuck on offense and we couldn't create any kills. Right now, we're just looking for consistency in the front row and in the back row as a team."

Against Warren, Kelsey Eenigenburg (7 kills) and Lisa Mahon (6) showed the way on offense. Libero Abby Watkins added four ace serves.

Hoover did see some bright spots, however.

"I thought our setter (Carson Weaver) did a good job of distributing the ball," Hoover noted. "And our two right-side hitters (Eenigenburg, Katie Dwyer) played very consistent at the net. (Junior) Mary Kladis came in and gave us some positive energy in the middle, too."

Niles North
 

Niles North finished 2-3, losing to Regina 19-25, 20-25, Evanston 13-25, 19-25 and Vernon Hills 20-25, 22-25 and beating Highland Park 25-8, 25-21 and Maine West 25-19, 25-18.

Leading the Vikings were Marissa Matesi (17 kills, 26 assists, 6 blocks), Andrea Lopez(26 kills, 22 digs, 5 aces) and Taylor Louis (30 kills, 4 aces).

Summer's End Tournament Scores

FIRST PLACE POOL
New Trier def. Glenbrook North 25-19, 25-21
Evanston def. Loyola Academy 27-26, 25-18
Loyola Academy def. Glenbrook North 25-7, 25-22, 3rd place
New Trier def. Evanston 25-19, 25-12, championship
SECOND PLACE POOL
Warren def. Niles West 25-23, 25-21
Glenbrook South def. Regina Dominican 22-25, 25-22, 25-14
Niles West def. Regina Dominican 20-25, 25-19, 25-12, 7th place
Warren def. Glenbrook South 25-20, 24-26, 25-18, 5th place
THIRD PLACE POOL
Zion-Benton def. Wheeling 25-20, 25-15
Vernon Hills def. Oak Park 25-23, 22-25, 25-16
Oak Park def. Wheeling 27-25, 25-19, 11th place
Zion-Benton def. Vernon Hills 22-25, 26-24, 25-22, 9th place
FOURTH PLACE POOL
Maine West def. Waukegan
Niles North def. Highland Park
Highland Park def. Waukegan 25-7, 25-22, 15th place
Niles North def. Maine West 25-19, 25-18, 13th place
POOL NO. 1
Glenbrook North def. Niles West 22-25, 25-22, 15-13
Wheeling def. Waukegan 25-7, 25-13
Glenbrook North def. Wheeling 25-17, 25-12
Niles West def. Waukegan 25-8, 25-11
Glenbrook North def. Waukegan 25-9, 25-8
Niles West def. Wheeling 27-26, 25-16
POOL NO. 2
Evanston def. Vernon Hills 25-22, 19-25, 15-12
Regina Dominican def. Niles North 25-19, 25-20
Evanston def. Niles North 25-13, 25-19
Regina Dominican def. Vernon Hills 25-18, 25-22
Evanston def. Regina Dominican 25-20, 23-25, 15-10
Vernon Hills def. Niles North 25-23, 25-22
POOL NO. 3
New Trier def. Zion-Benton 25-15, 25-10
Warren def. Maine West 26-17, 25-13
New Trier def. Warren 25-14, 25-19
Zion-Benton def. Maine West 25-8, 25-14
New Trier def. Maine West 25-10, 25-19
Warren def. Zion-Benton 18-25, 25-21, 15-13
POOL NO. 4
Glenbrook South def. Oak Park 21-25, 25-19, 15-7
Loyola Academy def. Highland Park 25-8, 25-15
Loyola Academy def. Oak Park 25-17, 25-20
Glenbrook South def. Highland Park 25-13, 27-25
Oak Park def. Highland Park 25-20, 25-17
Loyola Academy def. Glenbrook South 25-19, 17-25, 15-8