Furlan, Pats stop Palatine on senior night

Early in the second game of Tuesday's home volleyball match with Palatine, Stevenson senior Chelsea Furlan went up for a kill.

Her shot hit the top of the net and rolled for awhile before tumbling over for a point.

How long did it take for the ball to find the floor?

"Forever," Furlan said. "When it dropped, I went crazy."

Of course, senior night is a good time for the home team to catch a fortuitous roll.

Stevenson's 11 seniors led the way in a convincing 25-15, 25-17 victory.

"This was very special," coach Tim Crow said. "It was great to get them all in there and contributing."

Furlan (5 kills) played well in an expanded role. She moved into the starting lineup recently after Taylor Berland sustained a season-ending shoulder injury.

"We expect (players) to be ready when their number is called," Crow said. "She did well."

So did senior outside hitter Mary Kate Fritzsche. She had 6 of Stevenson's 10 aces and contributed 5 kills.

"She had some good attacks and was excellent at the service line," Crow said.

Palatine (9-19) started the match on a positive note when junior Kelli Starrenburg served four consecutive points, two of which were aces.

"I was trying to get their passers moving around," Starrenburg said.

As the match progressed, Palatine had several quality shots dug up. Senior libero Izzy Shaindlin and Fritzsche had 16 and 11 digs, r espectively.

"They pick up a lot of balls that other teams don't get to," Starrenburg said.

Stevenson (22-7) will play host to Wauconda at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the NSC championship match. The Patriots went undefeated in Lake Division play. None of their division matches went to three games.

"We get along better than any team I've played on," Shaindlin said. "We have great energy and everyone is getting excited for the playoffs."