Grayslake Central Volleyball Squad Wins Lakes Tourney

The Lady Ram volleyball team has enjoyed some recent success in several matches, including taking home first place at the Lake Villa tournament. Here is a recap of recent contests:

At Wauconda, the Lady Rams defeated Marengo 25-17 and 25-23 before knocking off Round Lake 25-14 and 25-20 on Sept. 24. Next they faced Lake Forest Academy and whipped them 25-17 and 25-9. Then they defeated North Chicago 25-3 and 25-4.

In the title match, lost two hard-fought games to the host Wauconda Bulldogs 25-17 and 25-22. Senior outside hitter Klaudia Basierak (21 kills) and sophomore middle hitter Anna Basten (20 kills) made the All Tournament Team.

Sophomore Meghan Brewster led the team with 204/205 sets and 84 assists. Sophomore middle hitter Alex Dahlstrom had 20 kills and 10 blocks. Sophomore outside hitter Gabi Casper had 22 kills to lead the team.

"After a couple of heart-wrenching losses this past week, we bounced back with some great volleyball in the tournament," said head coach Jason Janczak. "We moved the ball around to all of our hitters very well. I’m proud of the girls for staying focused, even though it was their homecoming. They played some great volleyball."

At the Lakes Invitational, the Rams defeated Antioch 25-11 and 25-48. Next they overcame Grayslake North 25-15 and 25-20. In their third match of the day, Grayslake Central lost the first game 26-27 to Ridgewood, but came back to win the next two games 25-17 and 15-7. Wilmot was the fourth opponent and they were vanquished 25-16 and 25-11.

The Rams then faced the host team from Lakes in the championship match. The Central squad won a close first game 25-20, but the Eagles came back to win the second game 18-25. In the fiercely contested rubber game, the Lady Rams prevailed by a score of 16-14 and brought home the hardware.

Basierak led the team with 44 kills for the tournament while Dahlstrom spiked down 27. Casper had 24 kills for Central and Basten chipped in with 11 kills and Sarah Kuligowski added five of her own.

Dahlstrom led the team with a dozen blocks and Basten stopped six more. Klaudia Basierak served up 13 aces, Maria Treto blasted 11 and Dahlstrom slammed down 8 more. Setter extraordinaire Meghan Brewster was 267 of 271 in setting for the Rams with 94 assists. Basierak got down and dirty with 30 digs while Treto came up with 26 quality digs.

"This was an exciting day of volleyball for us," Janczak said. "We’ve been working hard on getting better with every practice and this was a big step forward in that regard. All daylong we saw tough competition, and our girls rose to the challenges that they faced. I am very proud of the way the team came together and played today. They clearly played their hearts out."

On Sept. 20, the Rams defeated the Thunder of Woodstock North 25-18 and 25-6. On Sept. 22, the Rams came from behind in both games to subdue a scrappy Knights team 25-18 and 25-17.

The Rams start four sophomores along with senior Basierak. Treto comes in for defense and is one of the leaders on the team in digs. Senior Beth Arnold is also a key player for the team and had the play of the night when she returned a ball over the net from an impossible angle.

The Knights, coached by Nikki Kirchway, are a young but talented team searching for that killer instinct to finish off matches in which they have a lead.

WHAT'S NEXT: The Lady Rams travel to Crystal Lake South on Tuesday, Sept. 27 and then take on Hampshire at home on Thursday, Sept. 29. The varsity matches on both days start at 6:30 pm.