Mustangs stand, deliver vs. Oak Lawn

Try as they might Wednesday night, the Oak Lawn Spartans and the home crowd could not rattle Evergreen Park.

With the conference title on the line, the Mustangs were not about to let anything distract them as they won 25-18, 25-22 to claim the South Suburban Red championship for the fifth straight year.

"We're a calm team and we're strong, so we're able to block things out, all the stuff going on around us," Evergreen Park senior Casey Christopher said. "And I think that being a senior, it's great that we were able to win conference again, five years in a row now."

After dropping conference matches to Lemont and Oak Forest, the win couldn't have come at a better time for the Mustangs, with the state playoffs around the corner.

"This was a huge win for us for a couple of reasons," Evergreen Park coach Carrie Berry said. "Of course, Oak Lawn is always a rival, and we've gotten into a bit of a slump these last two weeks. The girls just needed some momentum and some confidence to carry on to the postseason."

Late in the second game, the Spartans seemed to have the momentum late after a scoring spurt put them up 22-18 following a block at the net by Kelly Knudsen and Shannon Ott, and an Evergreen Park net violation.

The violation prompted Berry to call a timeout. Lauren Braun started the Evergreen Park rally with a kill, and Katlyn Beckow followed with a block.

The Spartans hit the ball out of bounds to bring Evergreen Park (23-4, 9-2) to within one, forcing Oak Lawn coach Dennis McNamara to call a timeout of his own.

Nothing was slowing down the Mustangs late, including another Oak Lawn timeout, as Emily Sawyers smashed a kill and Braun added two more kills to finish off the game, including the match-winner.

"When things don't go our way, that motivates us even more," Christopher said. "If we get upset about a call, we really push to side out and get the ball back."

Braun finished with six kills, with Christopher (5 kills) and Sawyers (3 kills) also contributing offensively. Jacqui Zintak dished out 13 assists, while Maryl Pinotti (3 aces, 11 digs), Leslie Christopher (9 kills) and Alexis Boss (4 blocks) also chipped in for the Mustangs.

Knudsen led Oak Lawn (15-14, 8-3) with 10 kills and six digs. Katie Yacko (14 assists, 8 digs), Keely Murtaugh (7 kills, 6 digs) and Alicia Krupa (18 digs) contributed for the Spartans.

"We executed really well, but the difference was down the stretch they (the Mustangs) picked up their defense," McNamara said. "When they needed a play defensively, they did it and got a point. We still executed, but we couldn't get a ball to hit the floor."