Girls volleyball: Cary-Grove dominates Dundee-Crown

Dominant.

With the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division girls volleyball lead on the line, Cary-Grove was impressive in disposing of Dundee-Crown 25-19, 25-13 in a match which lasted just 42 minutes Tuesday night in Cary.

The Trojans, winners of 14 straight matches, moved to 15-1 overall and a perfect 5-0 in Valley Division action. Dundee-Crown drops to 14-3 and 3-1.

"We had a phenomenal practice (Monday) and we were really ready to play," said Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis. "The great practice carried over to tonight. This group is really driven and they knew Dundee-Crown would be a great challenge. We wanted to establish ourselves in the conference."

The Trojans won the key battle at the net with 14 blocks compared to 0 for D-C.

Sarah Graham and Ali Vasquez led the Trojans with 5 blocks apiece while Illinois-Springfield recruit Allison Splitt collected 4.

"Honestly, we just didn't execute the game plan," said D-C coach Christine Hopkins-Muehl. "Blocking was certainly a weak spot tonight. We take this as a learning experience and move on. There is still a lot of season left."

Splitt collected 9 kills while Graham delivered 5 kills for the winners.

"Our defense was phenomenal tonight," said Splitt, "We knew D-C would be a great challenge for us. We really work on our blocks in practice and it paid off tonight. This group of seniors is really together and we have high expectations this year."

In Game 1, the Chargers actually led 14-10 after a kill by Paige Gieseke. Cary-Grove's 9-0 comeback run began on a kill by Bradley recruit Erin Olson to make the score 14-11.

Vasquez and Graham collected 3 blocks each as the Trojans turned a 4-point deficit into a 5-point, 19-14 advantage.

A block by Vasquez gave the Trojans Game 1.

Cary-Grove seized control of Game 2 by scoring the first 5 points. An ace by Emily Schuster gave the Trojans an early 5-0 lead, The Trojans' biggest lead of the game was 20-8 after a kill from Graham.

Cary-Grove won the second game and the match on a kill by Madison Katchen.

Delaney Bayer spearheaded the Cary-Grove defense with 12 digs.

Breanna Novak and Ashley Raby paced D-C with 4 kills apiece. Frankie Cavallaro and Emma Brant collected 3 kills apiece. Junior setter Alexandra

Buckley garnered 8 assists.