Long day's work ends with invite crown for Redhawks

Rebecca Heath was fatigued mentally and physically.

But the exhaustion didn't seem to bother the Naperville Central senior outside hitter.

Heath, fought through a knee injury, helped lead the Redhawks to a perfect 5-0 mark and the championship at Saturday's Prairie Ridge Invitational held in Crystal Lake.

Cary-Grove went 3-2 in the tournament and finished second.

"It is a long day," Heath said. "We play five matches in a row against great teams. But coach (Brie Isaacson) runs us a lot in practice and we are in great condition."

Heath blasted 15 kills with 4 aces as the Redhawks (7-2) completed their perfect day with a 25-20, 25-15 win over Barrington.

Naperville Central, which lost only one game all day, knocked off Cary-Grove 25-17, 8-25, 25-21 followed by wins over Prairie Ridge (25-22, 25-14), St. Charles East (25-20, 29-27) and Fenwick (25-9, 25-14).

"It was good to play all these matches today against great competition because we are going to have play two matches some nights in postseason," Isaacson said. "This will get us used to that. This tournament was good because we were able to find a lineup. We continue to get better and I am encouraged by that."

Both Prairie Ridge and Cary-Grove finished 3-2 but Cary-Grove finished second because it won eight games compared to six for the Wolves.

After losing their first two matches to Naperville Central and Fenwick, the Trojans defeated Prairie Ridge for the second time this week, winning 25-23, 25-12.

Allison Straumann paced the Trojans with 8 kills and 3 aces.

Cary-Grove (11-3) ended the day with wins over Barrington and St. Charles East.

"We have played 13 matches in seven days and these girls are burning fumes," said Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis. "We did a great job all day of holding our composure. Dropping our first two matches, I am excited that we came back to win three straight matches."

The highlight of the day for Prairie Ridge (6-3) was a 15-25, 25-22, 25-21 victory over St. Charles East. Ashley Doherty delivered 7 kills in the victory over the Saints.

The Wolves also defeated Barrington 25-17 , 23-25, 25-21 and Fenwick 25-14, 25-20.

"We were playing timid so against St. Charles East I changed the lineup and put a more aggressive lineup in there," said Prairie Ridge coach Stefanie Otto. "We played with less tentativeness and were more aggressive. We were up and down all day and were inconsistent. But, I thought our team chemistry was good all day."

St. Charles East invaded Crystal Lake with a lofty 8-1 mark but finished 2-3 to finish fourth.

The Saints (10-4), who posted wins against Fenwick and Barrington dropped their final three matches of the day. The Saints dropped a tough 20-25, 27-29 decision to Naperville Central before losing three-game matches to Prairie Ridge and Cary-Grove.

In a losing cause against Cary-Grove, Haley Streich had 14 kills for the Saints.

"I am not really that disappointed because we were in position to win all three matches we lost," said St. Charles East coach Jennie Kull. "We just need to finish and win those matches. All five teams we played were very good. We can learn from this."

Despite going 0-5 in the tournament, Barrington coach Chris Bronke was encouraged by his team's effort. The Fillies, who have lost to area powerhouses Prairie Ridge, Cary-Grove (twice), Marist, Crystal Lake South, Naperville North, Naperville Central, Rosary and St. Charles East, are 3-12 for the season.