Girls volleyball: Hononegah ends South Elgin's season
South Elgin's girls volleyball team ran into a buzz saw in the form of Rockton Hononegah Thursday night.
Putting everything together at the right time, the 4th-seeded Indians (26-8) ended the season for the 5th-seeded Storm with a 25-13, 25-13 decision during their Class 4A Larkin regional championship match in Elgin.
Rockton Hononegah advances to Monday's Dundee-Crown sectional semifinals at 5:30 p.m. against top-seeded Huntley (32-5).
After taking a 1-0 lead on a back-row kill from freshman Alyssa Worden (5 kills, 1 ace), South Elgin dug itself a massive hole as the Indians rattled off the next 12 points, highlighted by 3 aces from senior setter Anna Tapia (20 assists, 4 aces).
"You can't play a team like that timid," said Storm coach Joni Plach. "We definitely came out timid hoping somebody else would make the play instead of being the person saying, 'I'm going to make the play tonight.'"
South Elgin tried to battle back, pulling within 17-10 on an ace from Emma Hunter before the Indians scored 8 of the next 11 points to take the opening game.
During one stretch late in the set, Rockton Hononegah recorded 3 consecutive blocks - 2 from 6-foot-1 junior middle Alexis Lewis (4 kills, 4 blocks).
"They're obviously good," said Plach. "They were running plays that we haven't seen all year."
South Elgin stayed within striking distance throughout the first half of the second set, trailing 14-10 before Rockton Hononegah scored 11 of the final 14 points to seal the decision.
The Indians received a balanced effort from 6-2 sophomore middle Emma Schroeder (7 kills, 1 block), senior outside hitter McKenzie Kidd (7 kills), junior outside Jade Hoper (3 kills) and junior right side Laina Yurs (2 kills, 1 block).
"Tonight was the best I've seen them play in a while," said Indians coach Kaylee Libby. "It was nice to see that. On Tuesday night (25-18, 25-14 win over Larkin), we came out a little flat and didn't have a lot of energy. We couldn't put a lot of runs together.
"The urgency out on the court tonight was good to see."
Seniors Bella Tusa and Angie Negron added 4 kills and 3 kills, respectively, for the Storm.
"In our conference, we're not used to that really fast-paced game with those types of hitters and blocks," said Negron. "It took us a little bit to adjust to it.
"And then there's that pressure of, 'if we lose, it's our last game.' Everybody had that panicky feeling within them. We really tried to fight for it until the end. They were a really good team."
Maggie McGough added a pair of aces for South Elgin, which set a single-season record for victories with 28 (against 8 losses).
"The girls played the hardest volleyball I've seen during my career here," said Plach. "They were a team that never gave up. We were down 13-3 against West Aurora and came back and won that game.
"Year to year, anything can happen."