St. Francis places second in girls state volleyball
NORMAL - Crystal Lake Central may not have played one of the best schedules, but it left no doubt who's the best girls volleyball team in Class 3A.
The Tigers completed an undefeated season and answered any questions anyone might have had about them by knocking back perennial power St. Francis 25-19, 25-23 in the title match Saturday night at Redbird Arena.
Crystal Lake Central finished 42-0 to become the 11th team in state history to go unbeaten, the first since Breese Mater Dei in 1994.
The Tigers showed everyone who may have wondered about their record just how good they were this season.
"They know now," Crystal Lake Central coach Doug Blundy said, beaming at the podium in front of his players in the interview room.
"This is a main goal that we've had all season," Crystal Lake Central senior libero Paige Economos said, "and once we finally accomplished it, it was the best feeling I've ever experienced in my entire life. It was so cool to be with all these girls and to do something that we've wanted. It was awesome."
This season the Tigers went three games in only one match, winning 84 of the 85 games they played.
Carly Hayes led Crystal Lake Central in kills with 9, and Rachael Thornquist landed 8.
Kelsey Robinson finished with a match-high 12 kills for St. Francis, which closed the season at 38-4.
"It was a struggle," Spartans coach Peg Kopec said. "We started off strong, and we sure ended strong. I'm a lot more pleased about the ending strong.
"I think (the Tigers) just played very well. I think they played pretty cleanly. They did make some service errors that helped us, but we made just a lot of unforced errors. That's the way it was in the middle (of the match.)"
St. Francis started well in the opening game, taking leads of 4-1, 6-2 and 9-4.
Then Crystal Lake Central went on the offensive. The Tigers took off on a 5-point run fueled by a pair of Hayes kills to tie it at 9.
The score was knotted at 11 when Crystal Lake Central scored the next 3 points during a 5-1 spurt that produced a 16-12 advantage. The Tigers guarded their lead the rest of the way before wrapping up the game on a hit out of bounds.
"They played very well," St. Francis senior setter Michelle Kocher said. "They did get on a roll and it was hard to stop."
In Game 2 Crystal Lake Central jumped ahead 5-0 sparked by Economos' 3 aces and held a seemingly comfortable late lead at 20-13.
But St. Francis had a dramatic surge left in it, pulling even at 23 on a block by Meghan Matusiak.
"I think we showed a great deal of heart in the second half of the second game to really not give up," Kopec said.
Crystal Lake Central had the final answer, though. Hayes blistered a kill past diving St. Francis libero Catherine Culligan and then Lindsay Anderson blocked a tip in the middle for championship match point.
"I think we really looked forward to playing Wheaton St. Francis," Blundy said. "They have had a storied history of being downstate and winning state titles. It's like you accomplish a little bit more when you beat them for the title."