A 'Super' effort by Cary-Grove; St. Charles East up next
Unrelenting defense, precision passing and setting, and an array of talented hitters allowed the Cary-Grove girls volleyball team to match the deepest intrusion to the state tournament in program history Thursday night.
Cary-Grove defeated Fox Valley Conference Valley Division rival Huntley 25-8, 25-17 to win the Class 4A Huntley sectional, a feat accomplished only by the 2001 Trojans.
Cary-Grove (35-4) will attempt to make its first trip to the state finals when it squares off against St. Charles East (32-6) in the St. Charles East supersectional on Saturday at 6 p.m. The defending Class 4A state champion Saints - a team Cary-Grove defeated 25-21, 25-21 earlier this season at the Prairie Ridge Invite - defeated York 25-22, 18-25, 25-19 to win the Geneva sectional title Thursday.
"I couldn't ask for a better senior year," victorious senior setter Abbey Heredia said. "The road to state we're taking now is just awesome. Every game we're coming out with so much energy. We have great communication on the court and we're not going to settle for anything less than a win."
The Trojans looked like a powerhouse in Game 1, while Huntley (29-10) looked off its game. Cary-Grove junior outside hitter Kelly Lamberti (match-high 11 kills) got things rolling by pummeling an on-the-money set from Heredia for a 1-0 lead, and she pounded a bump set by Colleen Smith from the back row to make it 3-1.
After Huntley's Sam Boesch pulled the Red Raiders within 4-2 with a kill from the outside, the Trojans reeled off 6 straight points, 5 on the serve of senior middle Colleen Hargrove. Junior right-side hitter Smith tipped down a Huntley overpass, Heredia surprised the defense by sending a set-kill to open space, senior Kayla Klinger smashed a Smith set and Hargrove delivered 2 aces.
Huntley coach Michelle Jakubowski called the first of 2 timeouts in Game 1 when trailing 8-2, but the Red Raiders couldn't pull it together. Of Huntley's 8 points in the first game, 4 were legitimate kills. The other 4 points were the result of rare Cary errors. Huntley sent 3 errant over the net that the Trojans turned into easy points, committed a net violation, a lift, 1 hitting error, 1 service error and let a ball fall to the court as two players collided.
"Whatever could go wrong, we did do wrong," Huntley coach Michelle Jakubowski said. "We didn't even pass that bad. We just, honestly, couldn't hit a ball. And when that started going, you can't give (Cary-Grove) free balls. They're just going to put it down your throat."
Said Huntley senior setter Amanda Carroll: "As our coach sometimes says, the volleyball gods weren't with us." To wit: Lamberti closed out Game 1 with a let ace that clipped the tape.
Huntley was far more competitive in Game 2, but a service error when trailing 16-17 sparked a 7-0 Cary-Grove run behind the serve of Smith and Lamberti sealed match point with another booming kill.
"Our passing was on, our setting was awesome and our hitters did everything they possibly could," Lamberti said.
Heredia finished with 19 assists and a team-high 9 digs. Hargrove had 8 blocks and libero Sam Mainzer contributed 5 digs.