CL South tops Trojans for title

The Crystal Lake South girls volleyball players let emotion get the best of them Saturday, which was a good thing.

The Gators blamed a loss at Cary-Grove last week on their less-than-intense attitude heading into the Fox Valley Conference match against their rival.

CL South again seemed listless Saturday morning at Schaumburg when the Gators rematched with the Trojans in the third game of tournament pool play for both teams. Cary-Grove swept that confrontation 25-17, 25-15 to finish 3-0 in the pool.

However, from Illinois-bound middle Erin Johnson to the last player on the CL South bench, the Gators demonstrated heightened levels of intensity, focus, unity, and support from the start of the tournament title match against Cary-Grove, pulling for each other and pulling together to avenge 2 losses to the Trojans with a 26-24, 25-20 victory.

"We would get a point, not even an exciting one, and we'd look at our bench and they would just be freaking out," CL South senior Katie Trayser said.

"This morning we just didn't get in our zone, our game," Gators setter Jordan Guida said. "But this time we just wanted it so much. We talked out there and put it where they weren't."

Crystal Lake South (20-6) streaked to a 7-2 lead in Game 1, but the Trojans (27-4) weathered the emotional onslaught and eventually knotted the score at 14. Five ties followed until Cary-Grove moved to game point on a Kayla Klinger spike that staked the Trojans to a 24-22 lead.

But CL South rallied to win the next 4 points after a timeout to take Game 1. Johnson's booming kill off a Guida one-set tied the game at 24. After a Trojans hitting error, Trayser closed out Game 1 by tipping a ball over the Cary-Grove block.

Game 2 was tied 9-9 until CL South went on a 6-0 run, which opened with another Johnson blast, followed by a Guida tip kill, a spike off the Cary-Grove block by Caitlin Schumacher and Johnson's stuff block of a Kelly Lamberti attempt. The Trojans didn't pull closer than 4 points the rest of the game.

Schumacher closed out the victory with a kill to the middle of the floor.

"We're sitting on top trying to keep them down, and sometimes that's a tough position to be in," Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis said. "I don't think we reacted really well in that position. We started to let their emotions affect us a little more than I would have liked to have seen. For the first time in a long time I saw some of the players' confidence shook. That's something we can fix before we play them again."

The rivals will meet for a fourth time this season Thursday in Crystal Lake.

In five matches for CL South, Guida finished with 84 assists, Johnson had 25 kills and 11 blocks, Kali Loescher a team-high 41 digs, Trayser 23 kills and 27 digs, Schumacher 19 kills and 31 digs and Lena Mack 11 kills and 21 digs.

Schaumburg took third place in its own tournament by outlasting Larkin 25-15, 21-25, 25-21. However, the Royals (8-23) enjoyed a productive day with 2 victories. They beat Hononegah in 3 games and swept Mather to finish second in their pool but fell to Cary-Grove 25-14, 25-16 in the semifinals of the championship bracket.

"We pushed through really hard and everyone did really good," said Larkin senior Jessica Garrity, who finished with 24 kills and 32 digs. "We were really tired at the end. We had one game earlier in the day (against Hononegah) that went on and on."

Bartlett drew the short straw by being placed in the same pool as powerful Cary-Grove and Crystal Lake South. The Hawks (16-6-4) lost to both teams in 2 games, but they rebounded to beat Stevenson and Mather before winning the consolation championship against Stevenson 25-10, 25-22.

"It stinks we had to be with those two good teams in the beginning," Bartlett senior Emily Hayes said. "But we picked it up in the end and won the last three, so at least we finished on a good note."

Carly Sahagian led Bartlett with 60 kills and 9 aces and Hayes contributed 22 kills and 33 digs.

At Huntley: The Huntley girls volleyball team took fourth place at its own 16-team invitational on Saturday.

Joliet Township earned the tournament title with a 26-24, 25-12 victory over Marian Central.

The Red Raiders (16-9) swept through pool play without losing a game to Round Lake, Harlem or Oregon to earn a spot in the semifinals against Joliet Township.

Huntley pushed the Steelwomen to 3 games before falling 25-17, 23-25, 17-25. The Red Raiders then dropped the third-place match to Scyamore 25-15, 21-25, 12-25.

Huntley outside hitter Toni Jaehnig finished the day with 25 kills, senior Allyson Stellmach contributed 20 kills and 19 digs, freshman libero Amy Dion made 64 digs and Amy Fanella had 23.

St. Edward (15-12) finished sixth with a 3-2 showing at the tournament. The Green Wave defeated Johnsburg, Streamwood and Oregon and lost tight matches to eventual champion Joliet (22-25, 25-10, 15-10) and St. Ignatius (25-23, 27-25).

Kristen Haggenjos finished the tournament with 63 kills, 44 digs and 8 blocks, Katie Yohn had 37 kills, 15 blocks and 51 assists, Tess Berry and Molly Kelly added 17 kills apiece, Margie Haggenjos contributed 42 digs and Katie Ayello had 43 digs.

St. Edward will host its second annual Volley for the Cure match on Wednesday against St. Francis.

Streamwood lost to Johnsburg, Joliet, St. Edward and Round Lake, but earned a 25-18, 25-23 victory over Belvidere.

At Walther Lutheran: Fox Valley Lutheran Academy went 0-3 at the Walther Lutheran tournament, losing to Proviso West, Walther Lutheran and Elmwood Park. Leading the Falcons (6-8) were Sarah Mounger with 10 kills, 10 digs and 3 assists, and Samantha Pfortmiller with 7 kills and 4 aces.