Girls Volleyball: Stagg Topples Andrew, Remains Undefeated in Southwest Suburban Red

A few weeks ago, the  girls volleyball team was saddled with a record of 2-9. Since then, the Chargers have rallied to win 10 of 14 matches. And they show no signs of letting up.

Stagg (12-13, 2-0) notched its biggest win yet on Tuesday night, sweeping past Andrew 25-15, 25-12.

The Chargers were firing on all cylinders from the get-go. Jill Conrad led the way with nine kills and nine service points, including four aces. Emily Frain, who rotates in only on the serve, scored 14 points.

The first game started out like it was going to be a battle. But the Chargers used a huge run to extend a 13-11 into a 20-11 cushion. And they maintained that cushion the rest of the way.

The T-Bolts (13-9, 2-1) were led by Maureen Carls with nine kills, all but one of them coming in that first game. Carls recently committed to play volleyball at Loyola University in Chicago. Liz Jendra added 10 assists.

In Game 2, the Chargers built and their momentum and cruised to an 11-4 lead on kills by Conrad and freshman Lexi Mantas. Andrew was unable to fight back.

"I think we needed to focus on our intensity and communication level," T-Bolts coach Courtney Stoub said. "I felt like there was a lot that happened that we could have controlled, which is a good thing because we can fix it. I thought Stagg's offense was very powerful, but we needed to move a little faster on defense.

"We're going to work on serving more aggressively in practice before our game against Bradley on Thursday."

Stagg's players and coaches recognized the opportunity presented to them long before the opening tip. 

"I told the girls earlier this week that this was a huge game," Stagg coach Deanna Storino said. "Sometimes when kids are young, you have to lay it out for them. This is huge for us and puts us in good shape to be in the conference."

Echoing the words of her coach, Conrad summed up the Chargers' position heading in to play vs. Thornton on Thursday.

"We're undefeated in the conference," she said. "We're in first place, and it's a good feeling. We're not the underdogs anymore. We've been a different team since we were 2-9, and we're not going back there. We found out how to win and stay ahead."

The Chargers face Thornton, Thornwood and Thornridge in their next three matches, then take on on Lincoln-Way North. Thursday's Bradley at Andrew match is Andrew's annual Volley for the Cure event.