Girls volleyball ready for playoff run

Matt Nicholson, Lead Sports Editor
February 11, 2015

The girls volleyball team hopes to rebound from a disappointing sixth-place finish out of twelve teams in the Lake Park Invite on Oct. 24 and 25. This still leaves the Vikings with an impressive 17-6 record heading into the postseason.

The Vikes finished second in the Mid-Suburban League (MSL) West division and were barely edged out by Schaumburg, who finished one game ahead of the team’s 8-2 conference record. Despite these recent hardships, Fremd is poised to make a playoff run, as they have captured the second seed in the Crystal Lake South sectional.

Head coach Curt Pinley details the driving force behind the team’s continual success.

“It’s the leadership of the seniors– we have a lot of them,” Pinley said. “Each one of them has impacted the team in a positive way, whether that is through her play on the floor or how she influences the team off the court.”

In first round of the invite, the Vikings were matched with Oak Park and River Forest and they split the first two sets 25-13 and 16-25, but ultimately lost 15-13 in the final set. Following the tough loss, the Vikings defeated Dundee-Crown, their opponent for the first round of the playoffs, 25-19, 25-13. In the championship round, Fremd fell to Conant 25-19, 25-16 to secure sixth place.

An unquestionable leader of the team, senior setter Carly Roberts, who recently earned All-Conference honors, will not let the team’s finish in the invite hinder her preparation for the postseason.

“The invite over the weekend had some really high highs and some very low lows. We had a strong start on Friday, but we wavered a little on Sunday,” Roberts said. “That’s already forgotten. We are 0-0 going into the playoffs.”

Pinley is confident in his team’s ability to compete at a high level and knows that if they play the way they are capable of, the Vikings can be serious contenders.

“Right now, we feel pretty good about our chances for the match,” Pinley said.

The girls volleyball team will take on Dundee-Crown at 6:30 on Oct. 28 in the IHSA regional semifinals.