Girls volleyball: Huntley nails down tourney title; No. 300 for Naymola
There wasn't the least bit of panic.
After losing the first game to Crystal Lake Central 26-24, Huntley's girls volleyball team responded by winning the next 2 games 25-20, 25-20 to defeat the Tigers and win the championship of the Huntley Invitational Saturday.
The Red Raiders and Tigers split a pair of Fox Valley Conference games earlier in the season.
It was Huntley coach Karen Naymola's 300th win of her 13 year career.
"We made too many unforced errors in the first game and you can't do that against a team the caliber of Central," said Naymola. "We settled down and really got some good sets from our setters and our hitter got some good swings. It is nice to win our own tournament."
The Red Raiders (15-4) were led by the gutsy effort from lone senior Aleah Amelio, who battled through two sprained ankles to collect 13 kills with 6 blocks for the winners.
"I just played on adrenaline and with great energy," said Amelio. "I knew the stakes were high. We stepped up the last two games and minimized our mistakes."
Julia Johnson added 16 kills and Emma Konie had 5 kills for the Red Raiders. Taylor Jakubowski collected 34 set assists with 27 digs in a winning effort.
In third and decisive game, with the score tied at 20, the Raiders scored the final 5 points with the game and match winner coming on a kill by Konie.
Emily Kelly and Megan Kelly collected 12 kills each for the Tigers.
The Red Raiders, 3-0 in pool play, defeated Harvest Christian 25-13, 25-19 to advance to the finals.
Central defeated Barrington 25-19, 27-25 in the semifinals.
Barrington (17-10) bounced back and defeated Harvest Christian 25-22, 25-20 to claim third place.
The Fillies were led by Peyton Tilley with 12 kills, 6 blocks and 3 aces. A kill from Nicole Daehler gave Barrington the third place trophy.
"We got a little tired in the third place match because we expended so much energy in the semifinal match against Crystal Lake Central," said Barrington coach Michelle Jakubowski. "I liked the way we fought all day. It was a really productive day and we feel we are ready for the postseason."
Harvest (22-10), a Class 2A team, was led in the third place game by Kailey Weidman with 12 kills and senior defensive specialist Candis Kaplan came up with 28 digs.
"I love the competition of playing bigger and better team," said Kaplan. "It will make us better heading into the postseason."
Lions coach Mike Bui likes the competition of playing bigger schools.
"We dropped out of the Hampshire tournament to get into the Huntley tournament," said Bui. "The competition against much bigger schools will help. The challenge is awesome for us and the great competition exposes our weaknesses."