St Ignatius gets past Young

When a team plays its neighborhood rival, it always seems as if the stakes are higher. That was the case at St. Ignatius Tuesday afternoon, as the host Wolfpack defeated their rivals from Young, 25-19, 28-26.

“Whitney Young has a nice little team this year and have always been great to play against,’’ said St. Ignatius coach Erik Eastman. “It’s always good to play games like these, against sectional teams and teams we are going to see in the future.”

St. Ignatius cruised to an easy 25-19 win in Game 1. After the Wolfpack ran out to a quick 7-2 lead in the second set, neither team would lead by more than three points, as the Dolphins (15-2) relied on the arm of Madisen Lenzini, who had six of her match-high 11 kills in the set.

Young had an 18-15 lead when senior libero Mary Grassano stepped to the service line and served four straight service points and gave the Wolfpack (16-4) a 20-18 lead.

An ace by Grassano and a Dolphin hitting error gave St. Ignatius the match in two and handing Young its first loss to a Chicago-area team and first loss since a September 4th match in Champaign.

“I have a lot of confidence when I go back there,’’ said Grassano. “I go back and just relax and not worry about too much.’’

Hanna Lee added seven kills for Young and Jenna Jacobson, a Pitt recruit, added 20 assists.

St. Ignatius was led by Camille Evans, who had eight kills and Sophia Dodd, who had five kills, 10 assists, five digs and three blocks. Rachele Lock also added five kills.