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Girls volleyball: Cary-Grove gets past Huntley

There were no secrets between division rivals Huntley and Cary-Grove after two previous meetings, so Tuesday's girls volleyball sectional semifinal came down to execution.

Huntley served aggressively and successfully knocked Cary-Grove's offense out of system for most of the match, but the Trojans' many talented hitters nevertheless found ways to score out-of-system points to lift Cary-Grove to a 25-23, 25-22 victory in Crystal Lake.

Senior hitters Abby Schebel and Morgan Lee had 5 kills apiece and junior middle Allie Splitt terminated 3 more to help the Trojans overcome a match-high 11 kills from Huntley junior Erin Erb and 20 digs from senior libero Haley Arnieri.

"For us to still pull out a win, I call that a heart win because Huntley was doing everything possible to make sure we weren't able to run any offense," Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis said. "We just had to fight every single way we got a point."

Cary-Grove (30-7) advances to the Class 4A Crystal Lake South sectional final on Thursday at 6 p.m., its first appearance in the Sweet 16 since 2011. The Trojans will face defending sectional champion Crystal Lake South (31-7), which defeated Hononegah 26-24, 25-13 in the second semifinal. The rivals split 2 matches during the regular season and shared the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division title.

"It's going to be a really tough match to see who comes out on top since we are 1-1, but I feel our team is well prepared," Lee said. "I'm sure theirs will be too. It's going to be a good game to watch."

The opening set featured 11 ties until a Schebel swing gave the Trojans a 21-20 lead. Setter Erin Olson followed with an ace and the Trojans took a 3-point lead by knocking down a Huntley overpass, which forced Red Raiders coach Karen Naymola to take a timeout.

Huntley (24-14) scored the next 2 points on a kill by Erb and a Cary-Grove violation, but Lee answered with a tip kill for a 24-22 lead. The Trojans were whistled for another violation and took a timeout themselves, but Huntley subsequently served long to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead.

The Red Raiders led 9-8 in the second set until the Trojans went on a 7-1 run, sparked by Schebel's kill, which ended one of the match's longest rallies.

Back-to-back sizzling spikes from Erb drew the Red Raiders within 15-13, but the Trojans scored the next 6 points to seize control. Lee contributed 2 kills during that spree and Madison Katchen added another.

Huntley fought its way back to within 23-20 on Erb's ace, but it wasn't enough to overcome Olson (16 assists), libero Bree Coffey (12 digs) and the rest of the Trojans.

"Sometimes we executed and sometimes it didn't go our way, but we all played with our heart out there," Erb said.

The loss ended a successful season for Huntley, which won 24 matches and its own invite title. Most importantly, the Red Raiders won their second straight regional title under Naymola and fifth in seven seasons overall.

"We had a great season. After this match, that's what I told the girls," Naymola said. " You can't let this take away from the things you've accomplished, the tournaments you've won, the regional championship. We came out and we played great volleyball. Both teams did a fantastic job. It was a fun match. Unfortunately, we made some poor decisions on offense, a couple of mistakes that changed the momentum and we couldn't catch back up."

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