Cary-Grove wins 41st straight
The Cary-Grove Trojans appear immune to letdowns.
Three days after dominating a field of national powers to win the Asics Challenge at Mother McAuley, the Cary-Grove girls volleyball team had to regroup Tuesday for a Valley Division match at second-place Huntley, which boasts one of the scrappiest defenses in the Fox Valley Conference.
The Trojans (25-0, 6-0) simply picked up where they left off, scoring the first 7 points of Game 1 and 9 of the first 12 points in Game 2 en route to a 25-18, 25-21 victory.
The victory was the 41st straight for the defending Class 4A state champion, which hasn’t lost a match in 368 days.
“They definitely came out strong in those 2 games, Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis said of her players. “Huntley’s a good team and they battled back. They weren’t going to lay down and hand us the match.
Huntley (17-3, 4-2), led by junior libero Amy Dion’s 11 digs, fought back to within 23-17 in Game 1, courtesy of a well-placed spike by junior hitter Ashley Smith (3 kills) and a rare Cary-Grove hitting error.
“Amy is amazing in the back row, Trojans middle blocker Ashley Rosch said. “It was our goal not to hit to her, so that opened up some other areas. We worked hard to be smart with the ball and put it in open areas.
Senior Kelly Lamberti (6 kills) found such an area when she crushed a cross-court kill to give the Trojans game point. Setter Colleen Smith’s tip past a diving Dion found the floor to seal Game 1.
Sam Boesch’s booming swing staked Huntley to a 2-1 lead in Game 2, but the Trojans reeled off 8 of the next 9 points to grab a 9-3 advantage, paced by aces from Sam Mainzer and Ali Whimpey. The Trojans served 7 aces in all, but finished with more service errors (10)
Cary-Grove led 19-11 before the Red Raiders made a real dent in the deficit. A kill by Boesch, who led all hitters in the match with 7 kills, and 3 unforced errors by the Trojans allowed Huntley to pull within 19-15.
Cary-Grove led 23-17 when Huntley scored 3 straight points on smashes by lefty Kadie Lowery and Boesch and a Trojan hitting error. Another Boesch kill cut Cary’s lead to 24-21
“They may be the top team in the state, but playing with them and making it 24-21 shows that we’re near the top of the state, too, and we can compete with anyone, Dion said. “If we just push over that little hill, we’re right there.
A service error by the Red Raiders ended the match, but they were able to see a silver lining.
“They got two big leads against us, especially in the first game, but once we started passing it we played with them, Huntley coach Michelle Jakubowski said. “We just have to start passing with them in the beginning of the game.
“I’m proud of my girls. They played with a lot of heart, determination, not willing to give in to a great Cary team. The last time we played them we only scored 10 or 11 and we gave up. In (Game 1) we still came back and scored 18 points.