Libertyville leaned on its middle and right-side offense during the team’s IHSA 4A sectional semifinal victory. On Thursday, outside hitters Claire Evans and Emerson Zovistoski were the featured attackers, combining for 17 kills during the sectional title match against Hampshire.

The Wildcats and Whip-Purs met at the sectional level last season, with Libertyville bouncing Hampshire in a three-set thriller. Playing on their home court this time around, the Whip-Purs led for most of the second set, but crucial errors down the stretch allowed the Wildcats to make an 8-3 run, close out a 25-23, 25-18 victory and end Hampshire’s season once again.

“We were destined for Hampshire from a month ago,” Libertyville coach Greg Loika said. “We’re familiar with each other. I thought they played really great defense against some of the stuff we were trying to do. I thought the difference in the match was we served excellently and we kept them off the net, which is important against a team that can move the ball around.”

Libertyville (32-7) advances to face Fremd in the 4A supersectional at DeKalb on Monday. The Wildcats established control early in the first set, opening on a 7-2 run aided by a pair of receiving errors by Hampshire (31-6), which had seven in the match. Three of the first 11 Libertyville points came on swings by the 6-foot senior Evans, who led her team with 11 kills.

“With our connection and trust, it feels so exciting, because our connection has become so strong,” Evans said. “I’m so proud of us. Knowing what spots to hit and taking advantage of that helped a lot.

“We all lifted each other up, and that was good to have. We didn’t let them make runs, and building up momentum was really important to us. The trust is so important to us.”

Trailing 11-6, Hampshire clawed its way back into the first set. Back-to-back blocks by outside hitters Lily Ingve and Elizabeth King preceded an ace on King’s jump serve that tied the score at 19-19 and forced a Libertyville timeout. After a brief spurt by the Wildcats, Hampshire responded with three straight points, evening the score again on a kill by hitter Katelyn Petterson.

But Libertyville’s Elle Knight delivered the clinching block on the right side to seal a narrow first-set win for the Wildcats. With King behind the service line, Hampshire held a 7-4 lead early in the second set, but receiving errors enabled the Wildcats to erase their deficit. A block by Libertyville right side Sydney Meyer put the Wildcats up 18-15 and force a Hampshire timeout.

“Libertyville outserved us,” Hampshire coach Omar Cortez said. “We couldn’t pass, and we took a lead at the end, but we couldn’t keep it up. Ball control is a huge thing in this game, and we know it’s hard to run an offense when you can’t pass. Libertyville took advantage of that.

“They took us out of system, and we weren’t able to execute on our serve-receives. They outplayed us.”

Meyer’s block sparked a late-set surge for the Wildcats, who scored four straight points to sprint ahead 22-15 and make Hampshire burn a second timeout. Libertyville middle hitter Avery Maddux delivered her first and only kill on the final rally of the match, sending a set from junior teammate Mairead Flemming beyond the outstretched hand of a diving King.

Flemming led the Wildcats with 10 assists, while freshman Brynne Colton had eight.

“On Tuesday, we were down early against Huntley, but we stayed the course and got ourselves even,” Loika said. “It’s not fun to be chasing, especially in somebody else’s home gym when it’s loud, but when we got close in that second set, we served them really tough, and I think they were in a rotation that was difficult for them. I thought that was the difference.”

King led the Whips with nine kills, two aces and two blocks. Setters Kylie Lambert and Ella Ingve combined for 17 assists to pace the Hampshire offense, while Petterson, Lily Ingve and middle hitter Anna Schiltz each added three kills for the Whips. Zovistoski collected six kills for the Wildcats, who’ve now won three sectional championships since 2019.

“This group of players has accomplished a lot for the school in the last two years,” Cortez said. “We’re playing in 4A, and these aren’t the easiest schools to go up against. I thought they battled well. We’ll be ready for next season.”