Trevians finish off Ramblers in thrilling rivalry match

Young teams looking to gain experience find valuable lessons in early-season results.

But perhaps there’s no greater learning opportunity than conquering a fierce rival in thrilling fashion.

New Trier girls volleyball passed arguably its toughest test of its young campaign Tuesday, Sept. 9, in Winnetka, defeating the visiting Loyola Academy Ramblers 25-12, 23-25, 25-20 in an exhilarating three-set match.

The Trevians dominated the opening set to the tune of a 13-point win over Loyola. But the Ramblers refused to give in, outplaying New Trier while holding off a furious late comeback attempt in the second game.

Both teams traded points early on in the third, but it was the Ramblers who pulled ahead late, 18-16.

A service error from the Ramblers gave New Trier a sign of life that it needed, and the Trevs went on to take nine of the next 11 points en route to victory.

“I’m super proud of the girls,” New Trier head coach Hannah Hsieh said. “For being a pretty young squad, I thought we did a great job of just pushing through.

“The bigness of this game, which has always been a big rivalry with a lot of fans, (our girls) are not used to that. That doesn’t happen at the club level, so I’m really proud of them for the way they fought and were able to maintain composure.”

Superb play from the Trevians in the first set pushed New Trier to an early advantage, 6-0, and Loyola could never recover.

New Trier’s dynamic outside hitters Kate Andersons and Serena Bauer led the way in the opening set. The juniors combined for nine kills (Andersons 5, Bauer 4), while senior middle hitter Calia Cremascoli also delivered three critical kills.

“We’ve been looking forward to this game for a really long time,” Bauer said. “It’s one of the biggest games of the season. I’m just so excited and I love playing with this team and I know I can really count on them. This is just such a fun atmosphere and I love playing in it.”

It was the Ramblers who flipped the script in the second set, though, putting the Trevs on their heels from the start.

Loyola eventually jumped out to multiple five-point leads during the set (10-5, 17-12) before New Trier stormed back to snag a late 23-22 advantage.

But the Ramblers benefitted from consecutive Trevians’ errors to ultimately claim the set 25-23.

“Kudos to Loyola; their defense picked up,” Hsieh said. “This gym is intimidating and we always know that they’re going to settle in and they’re always a good team. I thought they really did a great job digging the snot out of the ball, so we had to start mixing it up.

“What we were doing wasn’t working so we had to start mixing it up. We made some adjustments with what we were doing with our hitting because they were doing so well on defense.”

The decisive third set was a back-and-forth affair until late.

With the score knotted at 16-16, the Ramblers front row delivered a crucial block that preceded a New Trier over-the-net violation. Trailing 18-16, the Trevians found an open door with a Loyola service error.

Andersons then smashed home a kill to even the score, and the Trevians never looked back. A service ace from junior Mia Fitzpatrick gave the hosts the lead, then a block from Andersons and Cremascoli completely shifted the match’s momentum back to the Trevians.

New Trier put Loyola away thanks to a trio of kills from Cremascoli and Bauer and a match-winning service ace from Andersons.

“I’m so proud of the team,” Andersons said. “We worked so hard in practice this past week and we really worked on finding spots and I think we really executed so well and I’m so proud of us and how we worked together and stayed as a team the whole time instead of getting nervous and breaking down.”

New Trier’s victory continues the team’s hot start to the season as they’ve now won seven of their first eight matches to kick off 2025.

The Trevs have found success for many reasons, but high among them is the play of their potent offense.

“People say we’re undersized and a smaller and younger team, but I think we have some really powerful hitters who can not only hit hard at the ball but can also find really smart spots on the court and I think that’s what we really succeed in,” Andersons said.

And an emotional win like Tuesday’s triumph is certainly one Hsieh believes will be valuable for the young Trevs — who finished the match with only one senior on the floor — come postseason play.

“I think this is a huge takeaway that will help us in the long run,” she said.

The defeat drops the Ramblers to an even 5-5 on the season. After a 4-1 start, the Ramblers have found some struggles against the Central Suburban League South of late, dropping a match to Glenbrook South prior to the showdown with New Trier.

Loyola’s own pair of junior hitters, Audrina Harvey (3 kills) and Kaelyn Pasma (4 kills), alongside senior Brea Payne (6 kills, 11 assists), all played pivotal roles for the Ramblers throughout the game. Karol Mordasiewicz led the Ramblers with 7 kills, while Addi Daigler recorded a team-high 13 digs.

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