Girls volleyball: Crystal Lake S. topples South Elgin

Crystal Lake South started slowly in Tuesday night's Class 4A DeKalb regional girls volleyball semifinal against South Elgin, but finished with a bang.

South Elgin stayed competitive during the first half of each game, but the No. 3 seed Gators reeled off the final 5 points of Game 1 and the final 7 of Game 2 to cement a 25-16, 25-16 victory.

Crystal Lake South (21-15) will take on host and No. 5 seed DeKalb (18-11) in Thursday's championship match. The Barbs downed Rockford Guilford 25-19, 25-15 in the evening's finale.

“It's a young team and everyone was a little nervous, but after we got the early jitters out, it was great,” said Gators senior captain Kendall Kilberger, who knocked down a match-high 10 kills. “We came together as a team and had a lot of fun,”

“There was a little mental lull to start. I think it was just a wake-up call getting ourselves familiar to a new gym and a playoff experience. Then we put some things together,” added Gators coach Jorie Fontana.

The Storm (17-17) played well early on, taking an 8-7 lead in the opening game behind a pair of kills each from Rachel Priore and Phoebe Duncan.

Kilberger ripped 4 kills and the Storm committed a series of errors as Crystal Lake South surged to a 16-10 lead.

Jordan Proszenyak served out the final 4 points for the Gators with Hannah Koenig contributing a pair of kills.

“South Elgin had some nice hitters and were responding well at the net. I think it was that mental game where we were able to capitalize on their weaknesses a little bit,” Fontana said.

“Unforced errors killed us tonight,” said South Elgin coach Joni Plach. “Crystal Lake South has a good team, but I felt like a lot of their points were on our errors.”

Crystal Lake South seized a 6-2 advantage in the second game, but Priore had 3 kills while Julia Saldivar and Taylor Hankins landed tips as the Storm regrouped to close within 11-10.

South Elgin stayed within striking distance at 18-16 as Libby Verdine delivered 2 kills and Hankins came up with a solo block in the middle, but Proszenyak's kill off the back line triggered a final Gators push.

Sophomore setter Emily Slimko calmly served 4 consecutive aces to close out the match in style.

“Truthfully, she's had up and down moments on the serving line, so for her stepping back there and finishing a set and being aggressive the whole time shows a lot of her development,” Fontana said.

Slimko handed out 18 assists for the Gators, Kilberger collected 11 digs, and Proszenyak finished with 6 kills and 8 digs.

“I think we had that strong mentality that every point matters in the postseason. This is not going to be our last game. We have so much more to play,” Kilberger said.

Priore paced South Elgin with 9 kills while Verdine had 4. Saldivar and Cassie Swanson combined for 15 assists and Sarah Murray contributed a team-high 9 digs.

“We played a nice match last week against St. Charles East, probably the best match we've played all year. That was a great way to go into the postseason, but we didn't have that tonight,” Plach said. “All in all it was a good season.”