Girls varsity volleyball comes to an end

This year, the Palatine Pirates volleyball team had a year that one cannot help but be proud of.

They took second in the Mid Suburban League West and third overall. Now while this wasn’t the finish that they would have liked, it did allow them to learn what needed to be adjusted, and adjust they did.

They came in second in the Prospect Invitational and then went on to win the Antioch Tournament and the Pumpkin Invitational. Both of these wins brought the pirates some well-deserved hardware to put on display.

The Pirates faced the Barrington Fillies in regional semi-finals. Consistently a tough competitor throughout the season, this match proved to be the same. The match went to three with the pirates losing the first set 15-25, but pushing through in the, winning the next to sets 25-20 and 27-25. It was a nail biter!

On Oct 27 the girls made their way to Waukegen High-school hoping to win the regional championship. Their opponent, Lake Villa also had high hopes, however, they were dashed with the Pirates winning swiftly in two sets: 25-19 and 25-15. It was now onto the sectional semi-finals.

The Pirates faced Libertyville, a team that they had beaten earlier in the season, but that they knew would not go down without a fight. The Pirates fought hard, taking the match to three. After losing the first set 20-25, the Pirates dug deep and came back to win the second one 25-17. They battled hard but could not keep the momentum going and sadly lost the final set 20-25.

With the season now at an end, the Pirates finished with a record of 32-6, the overall best a girls varsity volleyball team has done in almost thirty years since the implementation of the 35 match schedule. The team also had 3 seniors selected as members of the Daily Herald’s All-Area Team – Claire Chaplinsky, Alyssa Kronberg, and Sydney Christiansen.

This year’s pirates were a fantastic team and all seven seniors will be missed by their teammates.