Smith, Huntley topple Barrington

For Ashley Smith, the 2011 season has been a physically painful one.

Battling shoulder tendinitis, the Huntley senior outside hitter has played in discomfort all season.

Smith didn’t allow her injury woes hinder her performance Thursday night.

Crushing 13 kills, Smith was a key figure in the top-seeded Red Raiders’ hard-fought 25-18, 13-25, 25-17 win over second-seeded Barrington in the championship match of the Class 4A Dundee-Crown girls volleyball regional.

Huntley (30-7) advances to the Prairie Ridge sectional and will take on Hononegah in the second semifinal on Tuesday.

“It was my responsibility to have a good match,” said Smith. “I knew I had to work through the stigma of the injury. This is the most fun I have had playing volleyball in a long time. It was a great win against a great Barrington team.”

Huntley coach Michelle Jakubowski applauded Smith’s gritty effort.

“Ashley was on fire tonight,” said Jakubowski. “She got every big kill we needed. She was unbelievable.”

In Game 1, there were 12 ties and 7 lead changes, before the Red Raiders seized control.

With the score tied at 16, Huntley ended the game on a 9-2 run capped by a kill from Sam Boesch.

Barrington completely dominated Game 2. Led by 7 kills from Peyton Lang, the Fillies jumped off to a 21-4 lead. The Red Raiders made it respectable ending the game with a 9-4 run.

Tied at 1-1, the Red Raiders weren’t about to be denied in the third and decisive game. Jumping off to a 10-3 lead, the Red Raiders never trailed.

A kill by Olivia Szuszkiewicz pulled Barrington within 3 at 20-17. That was the last point the Fillies would score. The Red Raiders captured the regional title by scoring the final 5 points appropriately capped by a kill from Smith.

Boesch backed Smith with 11 kills and 12 digs. Amy Dion added 14 digs while senior setter Eli Manning collected 32 assists.

“We kept our composure in the second game and finished the game strong,” said Manning. “Even though we lost the second game, we had momentum going into the third game. We played the third game with great energy.”

Lang paced Barrington with 12 kills. Szuszkiewicz had 11 kills while setter Lauren Dunseith had 27 assists.

“We had an unbelievable effort tonight,” said Barrington coach Rob Ridenour. “We were in a little rut in the first game, but we played awesome in the second game. We showed a lot of character tonight and we had a fantastic season.”