Wrobel Engineers Lemont's One-Sided Victory

Vicki Wrobel was fittingly the centerpiece of the Lemont girls volleyball attack on Tuesday night against Thornton Fractional North.

With her fellow seniors being honored as the Indians closed out the regular-season portion of their home schedule, Wrobel, a four-year starter at setter, orchestrated the Lemont offense with a majestic flair. The result was a one-sided victory over the visiting Meteors, by scores of 25-10, 25-9.

"She is our leader, our quarterback of the team," Lemont coach Chris Zogata said after Wrobel had a match-high 18 assists to a bevy of powerful hitters. "(Wrobel) plays well in every single match for us. She has been so solid all year."

With its straight-games victory over TF North (10-18, 3-9), Lemont improved to 20-7 overall and ran its unbeaten streak to 11 matches in Southwest Suburban Conference play.

The Indians are attempting to run the table again this season after pulling off the feat last year. Lemont has not lost a conference match since dropping a decision to Oak Forest two years ago.

The expected nerves associated with Senior Night was displayed early, and both teams had a series of hitting and service errors.
But Lemont never trailed, nor could TF North ever forge a tie, in the opening game that Wrobel took over in its middle stages.

On four separate occasions during the match, Wrobel faked an assist and earned a kill with off-handed spikes.

"It is really easy for me (to use my left hand) when there are holes in the middle," Wrobel said. "The flow of the play went really well. We had a fast offense. (The Meteors) weren't able to get there as fast with the block."

Courtney Keefe, Wrobel and Melissa Bograd all had first-game aces, and Jessica Kaminsky delivered on a Wrobel feed to give the squad a 15-8 cushion.

The spread soon was doubled at 20-10 when TF North could not return an Emily Brown serve. Brown polished off the Meteors from behind the service line with five more points as Keefe had a pair of kills off Wrobel assists.

"(Wrobel) has her own style," Zogata said. "We're really trying to speed things up (offensively)."

In the second game, Kaminsky, who was one of six seniors honored, continued the Indians' unanswered serving blitz with eight straight to provide the impetus for another dominant performance.

Brown had back-to-back kills for the sixth and seventh points, and senior Danielle Susz had a block for another point to flavor the eight-point run.

By the time Keefe secured another ace, the Indians' lead of 18-6 continued the Lemont trend of a 3:1 scoring ratio.

"Lemont definitely has more talent (than us)," TF North coach Peg Haney said. "They have a very solid team with some big hitters."

Lemont senior Becca Brabec added three kills, and Bograd had eight digs to lead both teams.

The Indians will not play at home again until they host a Class 3A regional later this month.