Girls volleyball: Reid, Fremd leave Lake Zurich fit to be tied
Maura Reid deserved an assist in a girls volleyball match Monday night — from a spot in the bleachers.
“Ry, tie your shoelace,” the mother of Fremd senior outside hitter Rylen Reid said to her daughter before a point in the second set of Fremd's road match at Lake Zurich.
The Viking turned toward her mother (a former Eastern Illinois University middle), tied her left shoelace, returned to an upright position and, with a mask covering half her face, smiled at her mother with her eyes.
All set.
All neat and tidy, again.
Reid then helped her squad secure something entirely different — momentum — shortly thereafter, smacking 1 of her match-high 11 kills in a contest Fremd would win 25-14, 25-11.
Reid struck her final kill on match point.
“Knot” a bad way to seal a victory.
“I've been tying my shoes tightly before matches, probably because of adrenaline,” Reid admitted after Fremd improved to 16-2. “But my feet get to the point where they're tingling, and then I have to loosen my shoelaces.”
Fremd jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first set behind the effective serving of senior middle Claudia Wala (14-15 from the line, 1 ace). Lake Zurich (9-13) answered with a 3-0 run of its own and did not trail by more than 5 points until Fremd went up 16-10 on a tip by senior outside hitter Samantha Gump (4 digs, 4-4 serve-receive).
A smooth, powerful kill from Reid expanded Fremd's advantage to 19-11, prompting Vikings coach Curt Pinley to shout, “Nice swing, Ry.”
Bears junior setter Heidi Mason (12 assists, 3 digs) made a sensational dig to keep the first point of the second set alive and didn't let up the least from there.
“She'd go through a wall to get to a ball,” LZ coach Rachel Wiatrowski said. “Heidi plays 100 percent, every match.”
Fremd responded to a 4-2 deficit in the second set with a 7-0 run and, following a Bears timeout, won 8 of the next 12 points to take a comfy 17-8 lead. Vikings sophomore middle Kate Pfister (2 blocks) — one of only three non-seniors on a team of 15 — thumped a kill to stretch the difference to 22-9.
“We were consistent tonight, with not too many errors,” Pinley said, adding he's not a big fan of Monday matches. “We were way more consistent in serving — that was good to see.”
Wiatrowski wouldn't mind playing every day of the week, if the IHSA were to allow it. Fremd's talented bunch impressed her Monday.
“Good, so good,” she said of the side that features five Vikes who suited up for Fremd's Class 4A fourth-place team in 2019.
Vikings senior setter Rian Baker finished with 14 assists on 35-35 setting Monday night; classmate Isabela Segoviano paced Fremd in digs with 7; and senior defensive specialist Maeve Miller contributed 3 digs and 1 ace and was 5-5 on serve-receive.
Bears junior outside hitter Chelsea Williams hammered a team-high 5 kills, 2 more than mates Jarynn Hartman and Akpevwe Akpoigbe thwacked. LZ sophomore libero Madelyn Elsen had 6 digs, and seniors Kaylie Freeland and Taylor Marshall each served a pair of aces in the nonconference match.