Huntley, Crystal Lake South to meet for championship
Crystal Lake South need only 38 minutes to dispose of Grant while Huntley needed 3 hard-fought games to eliminate McHenry.
That was the scenario at the Class 4A Crystal Lake South regional Thursday night.
Top-seeded Crystal Lake South will tangle with No. 2 Huntley for the regional championship Saturday at 1 p.m.
Huntley (27-9), which lost the first game to McHenry 27-25, battled back to win the final 2 games 25-23 and 25-22 to win the match.
In Game 2, the Red Raiders trailed 23-21 after McHenry's Danielle Tonyan blasted a kill. But Huntley roared back and scored the final 4 points with the game-winner coming on a kill by Ashley Smith.
In Game 3, there were 13 lead changes and 10 ties before Huntley broke a 22-22 tie by scoring the final 3 points, capped by a match-winning kill from Taylor Neppermann.
"This team actually plays better from behind," said Huntley coach Michelle Jakubowski. "We don't play well with the lead. This team believes they are going to win no matter what the situation is."
The heroes were many for Huntley. Samantha Boesch collected 15 kills, Smith had 14 kills and Neppermann 10. Senior Amanda Carroll had 36 assists, 13 digs and 7 kills.
"This was a tough match and it was nerve wracking at the end," said Carroll. "Both teams are very evenly matched and we are excited to win and play South in the finals."
Tonyan was outstanding in defeat for the third-seeded Warriors with 22 kills, 6 blocks and 5 aces.
Crystal Lake South was too tall and talented for fourth-seeded Grant, defeating the Bulldogs 25-12, 25-13
After spotting Grant (12-24) a 2-0 lead in Game 1, the Gators (26-9) went on a 16-4 run. An ace by Hannah Burkle gave South a 16-6 lead. The Gators won Game 1 on a kill by Burkle.
Crystal Lake South continued its dominance in Game 2. Brittany Atkinson's kills gave South an early 12-4 lead.
The Gators, who had their biggest lead at 19-7 on a kill by Caitlin Schumacher, won the match on a kill by Beth McGinn.
"It is always nice to win that first regional match and move on," said Gators coach Jorie Fontana. "We were ready to play and I have to make sure we are ready to play and have enough endurance for Saturday. The mental aspect will come into play
Saturday.
Schumacher paced the Gators with 7 kills and Burkle contributed 5 kills.
"I felt comfortable playing tonight because I have played in regionals before," said Schumacher, a 4-year starter. "This is the time of the year when seniors have to lead and I have to be a leader. We really attacked tonight and used our height to our advantage."
Stefanie Cahill led Grant with 6 kills.
"They had too much size for us," said Grant coach Sue Thompson. "The game was played at a faster pace than we are used to. We were very scrappy and our backrow play was awesome. South is just a very good team."