Girls Volleyball: Glenbrook South advances past Loyola

Updated: November 3, 2011 8:24PM

Katie Hoover’s message to her Glenbrook South team at the start of the playoffs was simple.

The coach wanted her players to put the regular season behind them. The Titans, who entered the postseason at 13-20, have done a remarkable job of that so far.

Glenbrook South took another step toward getting back to the state tournament by beating Loyola 25-19, 25-12 to win the sectional championship at home Thursday.

“We’ve been playing some great volleyball these last few weeks,” said senior setter Carson Weaver. “We’ve gotten so much better since the end of the regular season. We had to put that out of our minds.”

Weaver was instrumental in the win by serving up six aces, including four during a 9-0 during the second set that separated the two teams.

“Our serving was really tough,” said Hoover, whose club finished with nine aces. “That was a key to the victory.”

The third-seeded Titans (17-20) led throughout the first set. But fourth-seeded Loyola (24-15) came out strong in the second set to take a 5-1 advantage.

The Ramblers then led 7-4 on Anna Pontarelli’s kill, but Glenbrook South started its march to the title. The Titans went on a 16-2 run for a 20-9 lead that was too much for the Ramblers to overcome.

Rebecca Tiedmann finished with five kills, while Abby Watkins had 12 digs. Weaver ended up with 16 assists.

“This is a team of girls who work really hard every day at practice,” Hoover said. “I’m so proud of all of them.”

Kaitlin Mohr was big in the middle for Loyola in the first set, scoring seven points at the net. Pontarelli, the kills leader in the win over New Trier, finished with two Thursday.

Glenbrook South, which finished third in the state in 2009, plays at the York Supersectional on Saturday.

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