Brooks Victorious in 7th Grade Volleyball Regional

Submitted by Valley View School District:

Brooks Middle School swept top-seeded Jane Addams Middle School 25-23 and 25-19 Wednesday afternoon to secure an IESA Class 4A 7th grade girls volleyball regional title.

The Bulldogs (14-9) will meet Homer Junior High, a 25-23 and 25-18 victor over Martinez Middle School at the Oak Prairie regional Wednesday, in a sectional contest at 6 p.m. Monday at South Middle School in Arlington Heights. Monday’s winners will advance to the state quarterfinals.

Riding Christina Zeitler’s serving and several kills by Taylor Coley to 5-0 and 10-3 game one leads, the Bulldogs fought off a Mustangs rally that was keyed by a floating ace from Charlize Cramer and maintained thanks to a pair of aces by Andrea Weaver and two deep kills by Jasmine Dougin.

Addams (15-4) took a 16-15 lead on Abby Delamorte’s tip off a great set by Dougin and built the advantage to 21-17 before Coley hit on three straight kills, Kaylee Zihala registered an ace and Estefania Melo nailed a cross-court kill off a great set by Kaylee Wnek to help Brooks regain the lead.

In game two, Brooks used Addams mistakes to jump out in front 10-3. Wnek helped the run with a terrific bump save near the net. The Mustangs got it back to within two at 15-13 before missing out-of-bounds on five of their final nine serves. Two Coley aces and a pair of aces by Wnek helped put the game away.

Other Brooks players include Stephanie Perry, Viviana Perales, Tiana Hill, Brooklyn Douglas, Bailey Berry, Alyssa Sievert, Chloe Knaakk, Madison Chandler, Illiana Chavez, Amber Harold and Laila Rivera. They are coached by MollyDeSerf.