Cary-Grove wins another tourney
The Cary-Grove girls volleyball team won its fourth tournament title of the season Saturday when they swept to the championship of the Schaumburg Invite.
The Trojans (31-0), who also won tournament titles at Jacobs, Prairie Ridge and Mother McAuley, have won 47 straight matches, the third longest streak in Illinois history.
Cary-Grove can tie Breese Mater Dei (1993-94) for the second-longest streak in state history with a victory Tuesday at Jacobs. Mother McAuley holds the state record with 135 consecutive matches won between 1979-1983.
Cary-Grove defeated Stevenson for the Schaumburg Invite title, 25-17, 25-18. Earlier, the Trojans defeated Crystal Lake South (25-18, 26-16), Stevenson (25-8, 25-18), St. Charles North (25-12, 25-19) and Hononegah (25-17, 25-18).
“I was really happy, Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis said. “I kept thinking it would be a time for a letdown by most teams because we're getting close to the end of the season and we've been playing a lot of matches.
“Again, they continuously impress me with their focus and desire to do the job that we discussed. This was the first time I've ever played all 16 players on the roster, and all 16 came in, contributed and did a fantastic job. It was a great day all around.
Kelly Lamberti led the Trojans with 27 kills, 9 blocks and 3 aces, Ali Whimpey had 18 kills, Melanie Jereb finished with 17 kills and 5 aces, libero Sam Mainzer made 20 digs, middle Ashley Rosch had 10 blocks and senior setter Colleen Smith notched 77 assists, 19 digs, 13 kills and 5 aces.
Crystal Lake South (14-12) went 3-2 at the Schaumburg Invite. After losing to Cary-Grove, the Gators rebounded to beat St. Charles North (25-18, 24-26, 15-13) but were swept by Stevenson (25-22, 25-11). CL South came back to beat Larkin (25-21, 25-14) and eked out another tense victory over St. Charles North (25-16, 26-28, 25-23).
“The girls have been playing physically and mentally hard games but are doing very well, CL South coach Jorie Fontana said. “
Eastern Kentucky-bound middle Hannah Burkle had 36 kills, Taylor Granell had 22 kills, Emily Oraham set 87 assists and Katie Meyers made 51 digs.
Bartlett (15-11) took fourth place with a 3-2 finish at Schaumburg. The Hawks swept Schaumburg and Larkin and won in 3 games over Hononegah, but they were beaten by Stevenson in a semifinal (25-23, 10-25, 17-25) and dropped the third-place match to Hononegah (25-22, 18-25, 23-25).
Junior setter Tori Burke finished with 106 assists, 22 digs and 9 aces, Jacki Gulczynski had 27 kills, 15 blocks and 5 aces, Lauren Hartford posted 45 kills, 17 digs and 2 aces and Kelly Kraft had 26 kills, 22 digs and 3 aces.
Burlington Central swept: At Bettendorf, Iowa, the Rockets lost to two ranked teams from the Hawkeye state (Clinton and North Scott) in 3 games before they were swept 21-9, 21-10 by Iowa City, the No. 2 team in the state.Audi Djukic had 13 kills, Brenda Thasavong added 12 kills, setter Kaitlyn O'Reilly finished with 21 assists and 8 kills and libero Sam Bohne made 29 digs for Burlington Central (8-15).Dundee-Crown falls: The Chargers went 0-5 at the Crystal Lake Central Tournament, losing in 2 games to Wauconda, Harvard, Zion-Benton, Crystal Lake Central and Elk Grove. Alex Holm and Alexa Shemanske each had 16 kills, Rebecca Wika had 13 kills, Tess Barnes finished with 23 assists and Carlin Faulkner made 47 digs for Dundee-Crown (2-19).