Cary-Grove, CLS get their chance to play nation's best

The girls volleyball teams from Cary-Grove and Crystal Lake South will compete this weekend in one of the nation's premier events: the annual Asics Challenge hosted by Mother McAuley.

Defending Class 4A champion Cary-Grove (17-0) was awarded the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament, which begins Friday night with two pool play matches for each team. Nine states are represented in the field of 24.

Berkeley Prep (14-1), the defending Florida Class 3A champion from Tampa, gained the top seed. Berkeley was ranked No. 1 in the nation last week by ESPN Rise; The Trojans were 11th.

Rounding out the top eight seeds are Marist (18-0) - which knocked off undefeated Lyons Saturday to win the Rich East Tournament - Assumption (Ky), two-time defending Wisconsin state champion Waukesha-Catholic Memorial, 2009 Kentucky state runner-up Sacred Heart, perennial power Mother McAuley (10-3) and Venice (Fla.), which won state titles in 1998 and 2005 and reached a semifinal in 2009.

Assumption is the three-time defending Challenge champion and currently ranked No. 5 in the Country by ESPN Rise. The Rockets have won 15 Kentucky state titles since 1992.

Cary-Grove enters today's contest against Dundee-Crown riding a 33-match winning streak. The Trojans are grouped in pool play with Lone Peak (Utah) and Wahlert Catholic of Dubuque, Iowa. Last year, Lone Peak (11-2) won its fourth Utah state title since 2003. Wahlert (9-4) has won 14 state titles.

The Trojans hope to improve upon their showing at the Asics Challenge in 2009, when they lost in pool play to Sacred Heart and finished second in the silver division to take 10th overall.

"We've definitely put this tournament on our list of goals," Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis said. "We would like to be able to challenge and compete with some of these top teams in the nation and, hopefully, put our team on the map a little bit. A lot of them have been top teams in the nation for decades. We're just really excited to have that opportunity and see how we match up."

Other notable teams in the field include two-time Class 3A defending champion Joliet Catholic, eight-time state champion St. Francis (18-3), and defending Nebraska state champion Gross Catholic (10-4).

Crystal Lake South (8-5) rebounded from a subpar outing at Huntley last Tuesday to challenge Cary-Grove Thursday before succumbing, 25-15, 27-25. The Gators will compete in Asics Challenge pool play Friday against LaFollette (Wis.) at 7 p.m. and Marist at 8 p.m.

"The girls know this is a top tournament and there's a lot of pride when you go to a tournament like this," CL South coach Jorie Fontana said. "They aren't just playing for this year but for next year's team as well. I want them to really have fun and take in the event that it is, to see some good volleyball and play some good volleyball.

"We are looking forward to the Asics Tournament, but we also have McHenry (today) and Marian Central (Thursday), so there's no light volleyball for us this week."

Crystal Lake South lost its two games in pool play at the Asics Challenge last season, but rebounded to win 3 matches on Saturday to win the bronze division.

Rockets launching: Burlington Central has won 3 straight to improve to 8-10 overall and 3-1 in the Big Northern East.

The Rockets have steadily improved as their inexperienced hitters have gained more consistency and their middles have stepped up, according to Central coach Marv Leavitt, who also noted the improved play of junior middles Brenda Thasavong and Hayley Brake.

"From the beginning of the season, I knew what had to really improve was our offense," he said. "We graduated a lot of our offense from last year, so our biggest problem was we were not being efficient. We just had too many hitting errors. We've been working hard at that."

Leavitt also pointed to the defensive play of junior libero Sam Bohne and the strong serving of junior setter Kaitlyn O'Reilly and freshman defensive specialist Allison O'Reilly as reasons for the recent surge.

Second-place Central faces a key Big Northern East test Wednesday, when it travels to first-place Richmond-Burton (14-4, 4-0). R-B has yet to be taken to a third game by a BNE opponent.

"They have some strong hitters," Leavitt said. "It'll be a challenge, but I think our biggest challenge is ourselves. When we put the ball in play and we reduce our errors we tend to play with anyone."

Homecoming for former Trojan: Cary-Grove alumna Karen Whitehouse hasn't stepped foot in the Cary-Grove gymnasium since she helped her high school coach, Patty Langanis, with summer camps a decade ago. But the memories should come flooding back Thursday when Whitehouse (nee Liss) leads her Hampshire Whip-Purs (7-9) against Langanis' Trojans (17-0) in a nonconference match.

"It's always fun going against Patty," Whitehouse said. "They always get a good crowd at their games and the support from the community there is great, too. It'll be a fun environment."

"It will be fun to see Karen back in the Cary-Grove gym, where she had so much success as a player," Langanis said. "Karen and I are great friends, and to be able to play each other is always an exciting thing. Karen's team has been struggling a little bit this year, so I know they're just hoping to give us a really good match."

The Trojans will be looking for some payback. Whitehouse's Whip-Purs were the only Illinois team to defeat Cary-Grove last season.

"I know my team still has it in their heads," Langanis said. "They definitely want to play Hampshire well."

Eagles eye upset: Jacobs has knocked off traditional Fox Valley Conference powers Crystal Lake South (8-5) and Prairie Ridge (12-6) this season. The improving Golden Eagles hope to notch their biggest win tonight, when they welcome Huntley (16-2) to the Eagles Nest for a Valley Division contest.

"It's a big match," coach Lisa Dwyer said. "We need to get our passing game down because when we pass our offense and defense really flows. If we pass well, play the scrappy defense we always do, block their hitters and serve consistently, we can get into a good rhythm. Huntley is a good team, so this should be a good match."

Dwyer pointed to the play of hitters Taylor Lesner and Alyssa Ehrhardt, emerging middle hitter Nikki Madoch (6-1) and setter Quinn Leuhring as the catalysts behind Jacobs' record of 8-5 overall, 2-2 in the Valley.

Huntley grows up: Despite only one senior starter on the team, outside hitter Kadie Lowery, Huntley has developed into an area force.

The Red Raider lineup otherwise features juniors Sam Boesch (OH), Amy Dion (L), Jaina Jackson (MH), Eli Manning (S) and Ashley Smith (OH) and sophomores Hailey Vitacco (MH) and Nicole Levra (S). Juniors Emily McGran (OH) and Taylor Nepermann (OH) add to the roster's depth.

The young group showed signs of maturity nine days ago by winning the Asics Preview at Mother McAuley. That victory gave the Red Raiders an automatic entry into next season's Asics Challenge.

"We're excited to be able to play in it next year because we worked our way to get to the Challenge," Huntley coach Michelle Jakubowski said. "It was exciting for the girls.

"Three of them have been with them since their freshman year (Boesch, Dion and Smith), so it's kind of neat that in their senior year they'll get to play in one of the top tournaments and finish up where they deserve to be, I think."

Jakubowski credited the improved play of Jackson (6-1) in the middle as a reason the Red Raiders have become a difficult offense to contain.

"Jaina's playing amazing," she said. "I always thought she could be there, but she's really just flourishing and giving us another option. We don't have to just set the ball outside anymore. We have our middle as an option now. And her serve is incredible right now.

Jackson is third on the team in kills to only Boesch and Smith.