Quick start by Vikes, and fast finish by LZ

Early on Monday, the visiting Fremd volleyball team demonstrated the blueprint of how to play Lake Zurich.

The Vikings raced to a 16-6 lead and held on to win the first game 25-21.

"We stayed aggressive and kept them on their heels," Vikings coach Curt Pinley said. "That's how you beat an emotional team like Lake Zurich."

Lake Zurich looked like a different team the rest of the way. The Bears played with their normal fire and won the decisive final two games by matching scores of 25-18, 25-18.

What turned it around for the Bears?

"We woke up and decided to play," junior outside hitter Jenn Grunden said.

Lake Zurich's slow starts puzzle Matt Aiello, who displayed a lot of outward emotion to spur on the Bears (8-2).

"We're trying to break the habit of starting slow," he said. "When we dictate the pace, we don't feel anyone can beat us."

Fremd (7-2) set the tone for the opening game right away. The Vikings scored the first point of the match on a kill by Kaitlyn Pascus, set up by a perfect pass and set. Pascus finished with a team-high 7 kills. Stephanie Alesia and Alexandrea Messner each had 5 kills.

"We'd like to go to (Pascus) as much as we can," Pinley said.

Although Lake Zurich lost the first game, the girls took some solace in their comeback. The Bears closed a 10-point deficit to 2 points and forced a pair of Fremd timeouts.

"That gave us a lot of momentum for the second game," said senior outside hitter Amber Miehlke, who contributed a match-high 12 kills and 3 aces.

In the second game, Lake Zurich took immediate control and opened leads of 6-1 and 9-2. The highlight of the game came at 19-10, when Monica Kloep made an outstanding pass with her back turned away from the court to keep a point alive.

Fremd fell behind 8-3 in the third game but closed to 14-14 on a heads-up kill by setter Natalie Bruck. But Lake Zurich quickly regrouped and ran off 5 consecutive points.

Lake Zurich senior libero Melissa Miehlke had a match-high 32 digs.

Last year, the Vikings ended Lake Zurich's season when they defeated the Bears in regional play.

"It's a big rivalry," Amber Miehlke said. "We started slow, but we got really pumped up."