Girls volleyball: Huntley upends Prairie Ridge
Huntley invaded Crystal Lake Tuesday night with one clear goal: Beat a very talented Prairie Ridge team in a key Fox Valley Conference girls volleyball match.
Mission accomplished.
The Red Raiders outlasted the host Wolves 25-22, 22-25, 25-19. Huntley ended the first round of play in FVC play tied for first with Crystal Lake Central with identical 7-1 marks.
"This is probably our best team effort of the season," said Huntley coach Karen Naymola. "This is a very good road win against a very talented Prairie Ridge team. Our hitters played smart and we played with a lot of energy."
The Red Raiders, 7-1 overall, were paced by Julia Johnson with 10 kills, 4 blocks and 2 aces. Alyson Dion added 9 kills with 5 aces, in the pivotal third game while Marissa Deem and Caitlin Thorelius delivered 6 blocks each.
"What a great win," said Thorelius. "We practiced hard and watched a lot of film on Prairie Ridge and were really ready to play. This is the best match we have played all season. We beat a very good PR team on the road. We stayed positive and played with a lot of energy."
Freshman setter Taylor Jakubowski contributed 24 assists, 5 kills, 17 digs and 3 aces. Defensive specialist Sarah Zayas collected 18 digs.
Notre Dame recruit Sammi Lockwood and South Carolina recruit Genesis Sheridan paced the Wolves (6-6, 6-2) with 10 kills each. Erin McNeil added 9 kills for PR.
With the match knotted at 1-1, the third set was tied 5-5 in Game 3 before Huntley seized control.
Courtesy of 4 aces from Dion and 2 kills by Johnson, the Red Raiders went on a 6-0 run to take an 11-5 advantage.
"Alyson's aces were a momentum changer," said Naymola. "She really came up big and we were able to get a lead."
Huntley's biggest lead was 11, 21-10, after an ace from Thorelius.
The Wolves responded with a 6-0 run led by 2 kills each from Emily Baudin, Jayden Otto and Allison Cole to close the gap to 21-16.
Prairie Ridge couldn't get any closer as Huntley scored the final 4 points, capped by a kill from Dion.
In Game 1, Huntley's biggest lead was 20-14 after a kill from Jakubowski. PR fought back and tied the score at 22-22 after a kill by Baudin. The Red Raiders grabbed a 1-0 lead in the match by scoring the last 3 points capped by a kill from Johnson.
There were 8 lead changes and ties in Game 2. With the score tied at 22, the Wolves scored the last 3 points, all on kills from Cole.