Girls volleyball: Crystal Lake South shakes off Hononegah

When you think of the 2014 Crystal Lake South girls volleyball team the names of Carly Nolan and Cassy Sivesind automatically come to mind.

You can add the name of Abby Marchewka to the list of prominent Gators.

Marchewka's 9 kills, 4 blocks and 11 digs were enough to help propel South to a 26-24, 25-13 win in semifinal action of the Class 4A Crystal Lake South sectional Tuesday night.

"I just want to help the team win," said Marchewka. "We struggled a little the first game and made some mistakes. We played with more confidence the second game."

The Gators (31-7) will tangle with Cary-Grove for the sectional title Thursday at 6 p.m. The Trojans knocked off Huntley 25-23, 25-22 in the first match of the evening. The Fox Valley Conference Valley Division co-champion Gators and Trojans split their two matches this season.

Hononegah (26-9), which led most of the first game, was within a point of taking a 1-0 lead in the match.

An ace by Ashley Smith gave the Indians a 24-20 lead. But that's the last point Hononegah would score. The Gators rallied by scoring the final 6 points capped by a kill from Nolan.

Crystal Lake South used the momentum from winning Game 1 to dominate the second game.

With the score tied at 7, the Gators seized control of the game with 11 unanswered points to take an 18-7 advantage. Three kills each by Kendall Kilberger and Marchewka keyed the 11-0 run for South.

The Gators' biggest lead was 12, 22-10, on an ace by Nolan.

South won the game and match on a kill by Marchewka off an assist by Sivesind.

'We took a little breather in the first game and were able to come back," said Gators' coach Jorie Fontana. "We can't afford to do that against Cary-Grove on Thursday. We came back in the second game and played much better."

Nolan, who is headed to Cincinnati, backed Marchewka with 8 kills, 6 blocks, 13 digs and 4 aces.

Sivesind, who sets up the Gator offense, collected 19 assists with 4 blocks. Kilberger, Mary Wille and Emma Burkle added 4 kills apiece.

Erika Gustafson paced the Indians with 11 kills and 4 blocks. Smith had 8 kills and setter Macy Geyer collected 12 assists.

"We thought we had a chance to win the first game," said Hononegah coach Kaylee Libby. "We had a couple of opportunities to win the game. It was frustrating. Give South credit. They are a great team."