There was some tough sledding in the early going.

Then, Shepard settled into a groove and pulled away for a 25-18, 25-8 girls volleyball victory over Oak Lawn in South Suburban Conference play on Thursday night.

”I thought our girls played well," Shepard coach Dan Grunaur said. "Oak Lawn fought really hard in the first game, and we battled back. I think we got stuck in a couple rotations and we battled through. Oak Lawn played pretty tough."

Grunaur praised the work of the Astros' Natalie Carberry and Franchesca Graffeo.

"Carberry did a nice job putting the ball were she needed her to," Grunaur said. "Graffeo played defense well, especially in those long rallies."

Oak Lawn coach Dennis McNamara summed up his feelings in a word, "frustrating."

"We were playing well in the beginning of the season," McNamara said. "We kind of lost something about two weeks ago, just haven’t been able to find our groove. We aren’t playing well right now. We been struggling with our passing.

"Becky Bradshaw, our sophomore, was on. She brought her game. She played hard and passed well. With the kills we did get, she was usually behind them."

Bradshaw, Christina Egan and Amber Mailberger each had 2 kills for the Spartans. Olivia Lindner finished with on one kill. Jessica Cosenza had seven assists.

Check out the action.