Huntley keeps the momentum going

There was no break in momentum for the Huntley girls volleyball team Tuesday.

Fresh off last weekend's title at the Nike Preview, the Red Raiders dazzled visiting Fox Valley Conference Valley Division rival Crystal Lake South with a balanced attack in a 25-6, 25-12 victory.

"That really gave us a confidence boost," Huntley setter Eli Manning said of winning the Nike Preview. "We know what we can do and we want to execute that way every single time."

Huntley (15-2, 2-1), which reached sectional title matches each of the last two years, is growing stronger as the season progresses. Junior outside hitter Samantha Boesch (5-foot-11) has been a key figure through the first half of the season. She led the Red Raiders again Tuesday with 6 kills. However, Boesch has more help these days.

Junior outside hitter Ashley Smith (5-9) has recovered from two nagging injuries. She contributed 5 kills against the Gators. And junior middle Jaina Jackson (6-1) has gained more confidence with each match, according to coach Michelle Jakubowski. Jackson finished with 5 kills against CL South (8-4, 1-2).

"We've been heavily reliant on Sam Boesch and it's nice that other people are stepping up," Jakubowski said. "Jaina has played incredible with her blocking and hitting and now we have the confidence to feed her the ball. And Ashley has made her way back from her shoulder and ankle.

"With that, it just opens up a whole lot of different things. It's not like people know we're just going to give the ball to Sam. We can move the ball around now. And (senior) Kadie Lowery always does some things, which is nice to see." Lowery added 2 kills against South.

Huntley opened Game 1 with an 8-0 run on Manning's serve. The junior started with an ace. Jackson smacked down a poor serve/receive by the Gators for an easy kill at the net and later boomed a spike for a 5-0 lead. Manning's second ace made it 7-0.

The Gators struggled with their serve/receive throughout the match as Huntley finished with 6 aces.

"We've been hot and cold," CL South coach Jorie Fontana said of her team's ability to handle serves. "We've been awesome at times and then we've been bad at times. Obviously, tonight was a bad night. A good team is going to see that someone is struggling and take advantage of it, and that's what (Huntley) did.

"I think they got shaken by the gym, the surroundings. The beef up of this whole week was Huntley and then Cary-Grove (on Thursday). They just mentally got freaked out and it showed pretty bad. You've got to be honest about it and evaluate it."

Huntley opened a 21-4 lead, thanks to another poor pass by the Gators. A CL South block that caromed out of bounds sealed the first game for the home team.

The Red Raiders took a 3-0 lead in the second game and never trailed. Sophomore middle Hailey Vitacco (6-0) added 2 kills and 2 blocks.

Huntley led 9-4 after Boesch crushed a bump set from junior Amy Dion, 15-6 and 17-6 after aces by Dion, 21-10 on Jackson's kill of a two-ball and 22-10 on an ace by junior defensive specialist Aryana Burgos.

Boesch finished off the match with a booming hit down the middle of the court.

"We're all flowing together," Smith said. "Our passing's amazing, the setting and hitting's really good too.

Eastern Kentucky-bound middle Hannah Burkle (6-2) led CL South with 3 kills and 2 blocks.