Focused Cary-Grove a regional champ
The much-improved Dundee-Crown girls volleyball team could not keep determined host Cary-Grove from returning to championship form in Thursday's Class 4A regional final.
Cary-Grove, which won the 4A state title in 2009 and finished runner-up in 2010 and 2011, won its first regional title since that remarkable era by sweeping the Chargers 25-19, 25-18.
"It's amazing. 2011 seems like yesterday to me, but to these girls it was a long time ago," Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis said. "A lot of them were little kids in the bleachers. It's exciting to get back up there and win a regional. It's been a while for us."
Cary-Grove (29-7) advances to a Crystal Lake South sectional semifinal on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. The Trojans will face Huntley (24-13), coached by former Cary-Grove star Karen (Liss) Naymola. Huntley won the regional it hosted with a 25-13, 25-16 win over DeKalb. Cary-Grove defeated Huntley twice during the regular season without losing a set.
Cary-Grove's fast-paced offense was balanced between middle hitter Allie Splitt and senior outside hitter Abby Schebel. They led the Trojans with 6 kills apiece.
Junior setter Erin Olson wracked up 23 assists in just 2 sets. Three of her assists came in the middle of the second set via 1-sets to Splitt, a 6-foot-2 junior who delivered 3 kills and a block during an 8-2 run that turned a 2-point deficit into a 16-12 lead.
"We set it up before the serve," Splitt said of the quick sets from Olson. "It was really nice to be able to have the passes to be able to run those."
"She and I just work well together," Olson said, "and it's a lot of fun setting her because she's always going to put it down for you."
Cary-Grove led 8-7 in the first set but pulled away with an 11-3 run. Senior libero Brianne Coffey made the dig of the match during that spree. The Rutgers recruit made a diving one-handed dig that she sent backward to her teammates. The Trojans got the ball over the net and eventually won the point to grab a 15-9 lead.
It was the third time this season Cary-Grove defeated Dundee-Crown (24-13). The Chargers passed the ball well but blocked erratically and didn't execute attacks consistently enough to remain as competitive as they were on Sept. 23, when they pushed the Trojans to a third set.
"We knew we were definitely the underdogs coming in here," D-C coach Christine Hopkins-Muehl said, "but we were hoping that maybe we could pull some things out of nowhere there and see what we could do and make something happen here at the last minute. But I'm very proud of them. This is probably one of our best seasons."
The Chargers left the floor with the arrow pointing up. A team that won 24 matches, the Elgin Tournament title and reached a regional final returns all but one starter from Thursday's defeat. At times, the lineup on the floor consisted of three juniors and three sophomores.
"We're looking to see what we can build on and come back for next year," Hopkins-Muehl added.
Senior Lauren Lococo and sophomore Emma Brant each had 6 kills, junior Bre Novak contributed 8 digs and junior setter Frankie Cavallaro finished with 18 assists for D-C.