Carmel outlasts Libertyville in three-set thriller

Carmel def. Libertyville 25-19, 19-25, 25-18

THE SKINNY

In one of the better non-conference matches of the season, Carmel (17-2) outlasted Libertyville (8-8) in a thriller. The Corsairs’ senior-dominated front line of Grace Schofield, Elle Rengers and setter Alyssa Armada proved to be too much for the Wildcats.

TURNING POINT

Down 16-7 in the third set, Libertyville went on a 8-3 run to claw its way back into the match. But with the Corsairs leading 19-15, Armada set one of her 24 assists to Rengers, who hammered a spike for a kill and Carmel point. The Corsairs closed out the match on a 5-3 run.

THE STARS

Carmel’s hitters. With Armada’s precise passes off serve/receive, Carmel dominated possession and were consistently in system the entire match. Schofield led the way with eight kills, Rengers, a middle, had five and senior outside Haley Nedelka finished with four kills and four blocks.

BY THE NUMBERS

The Corsairs defense was also outstanding. Four defensive players combined for 69 digs.

QUOTABLE

“We knew coming into this game it would be a fight as we have a past with Libertyville. Even though we lost the second set, we came out strong in the third and I knew that we’d take it the whole time.” — Schofield