Girls volleyball: Crystal Lake Central upends Dundee-Crown
It's no secret volleyball is a game of momentum. That was never more true than on Tuesday night in the Class 4A Dundee-Crown regional championship match.
It took the visiting sixth-seeded Crystal Lake Central Tigers nearly two games to finally gain any consistent momentum, but once they had it they never let it go.
The Tigers rallied from behind to win their first regional title at the 4A level with a 21-25, 25-19, 25-13 win over the host and fourth-seeded Chargers. Dundee-Crown was denied its first regional title since 2010 after setting a school record with 27 wins during the season.
The sophomore twin tandem of Emily Kelly, who had 11 kills and 5 blocks, and Megan Kelly, who added 9 kills, 7 blocks, 11 assists, and 8 digs, led the way for CLC.
"This really means a lot for our program," CLC coach Lisa Brunstrum said. "We are trying to build a winning tradition so being able to get a regional title in 4A is a big deal. I thought our sophomores stepped up and really came up big for us tonight."
After dropping the first game the Tigers trailed in the second game 18-15 before turning the tide. A couple of unforced passing errors by D-C and an ace by Megan Kelly opened the door as the CLC went on a 10-1 run. The eldest Kelly sister, Sarah, gave the Tigers the lead 20-19 with a block kill. Megan Kelly had 3 kills down the stretch.
"We just kept pushing as hard as we could," Megan Kelly said. "Once we got that lead we didn't want to give it up. We were really motivated to win that regional title."
The Tigers (27-10) remained relentless in the third game jumping out to a 5-1 lead with a couple kills from Emily Kelly. CLC later pulled away for good with an 8-1 run to open a 21-10 advantage. Brittany Lownds and Olivia Doak each had aces during the run.
"Once we got the momentum we wanted to keep it," Brunstrum said. "We just kept telling them to keep pushing forward one point at a time."
Up to the point that the Chargers had that 18-15 lead in the second game they had committed just 6 unforced errors. However, they were plagued by 16 errors the rest of the way.
"It started with our serve receive breaking down on few plays with some communication errors," said Dundee-Crown coach Christine Hopkins-Muehl. "Our team has a quiet personality and communication is something we have struggled with at times this year. It was just unfortunate to have it be a problem at such a crucial time. But I'm still very proud of the things we were able to accomplish this season."
Ashley Raby had a team high 8 kills for the Chargers. Senior Frankie Cavallaro added 6 kills, 15 assists, and 12 digs. Bre Novak had 7 kills.
"The mistakes were like a domino effect," said Cavallaro. "We were still fighting but just couldn't get that momentum back. It was still a great season. We overcame a lot and accomplished more than most people thought we could. With new school records with wins we left a legacy to build on."