Trojans 3rd at PR; SCE takes 2nd

In its first big test of the year, Naperville Central delivered.

Led by senior outside hitter Meghan Bray, the Redhawks held off St. Charles East in the unofficial championship match of the Prairie Ridge Invitational girls volleyball tournament Saturday in Crystal Lake.

Naperville Central swept the six-team tournament, including handing the Saints their first loss of the season, 25-23, 28-26.

"St. Charles East is a fantastic team," Naperville Central coach Brie Isaacson said. "They've had some big wins. This is the first tournament that we played in. I was impressed with how the girls were able to keep their composure from point 1 to point 50."

The Redhawks (8-0) and Saints (13-1) battled back and forth until Megan Bray's kill put Naperville Central up for good at 27-26 in Game 2. A net violation gave the Redhawks the victory, and their second-straight championship at Prairie Ridge.

"It was good exposure for us," Bray said. "It shows that we're always going to get better."

Naperville Central defeated host Prairie Ridge (25-15, 25-20), Barrington (25-7, 25-15) and Fenwick (25-7, 25-14).

The good thing for St. Charles East is that the Saints got an opportunity to clinch a close game of their own in the very next match. Trailing 6-0 in Game 2 against Cary-Grove, the Saints rebounded to earn a 28-26 victory of their own against the Trojans.

"We've had a really tough couple of weeks here with injuries and soreness," Saints' coach Jennie Kull said. "The kids pulled together and pulled through it."

The Trojans took a 26-25 lead in Game 2 when Alli Straumann recorded a block kill. Laura Homann (108 assists on the20day) tipped the b all to tie it a 26. A hitting error and ace from Stacy Reid closed the game and second place for St. Charles East.

The Saints scored earlier wins over Barrington (25-15, 25-15), Fenwick 25-23, 25-20) and Prairie Ridge (25-23, 25-14).

Despite the third-place finish, Cary-Grove saw a lot more positives from Saturday's tournament than it did after finishing second at the Jacobs' Invitational last weekend.

"We keep getting better and better," Trojans coach Patty Langanis said. "Since the (Crystal Lake) Central loss (at the Jacobs tournament) I've seen huge growth from this team."

Cary-Grove (11-3) got a huge win in its match over Prairie Ridge dropping the first game to the host Wolves (5-4). Cary-Grove finished with 6 aces in Game 2, including 2 from Straumann before coming back and winning the third game to take a 21-25, 25-18, 15-13 victory.

" It was such a rush of emotion all at once," Straumann said. "They came out really strong and we came out sort of timid. It was really gut-wrenching. The third game was incredible."

Prairie Ridge led 13-12 before the Trojans closed out the game on a 3-0 run to take the match.

"We got in our own heads in the second game," Prairie Ridge outside hitter Sondra Parys said. "It's good to play tough competition like this. We're excited to see some of these teams again."

Prairie Ridge defeated Barrington 25-10, 14-25, 15-9, and Fenwick 25-15, 25-18 to go 2-3 in tournament play.

"It was good competition," Wolves' coach Stefanie Otto said. "If I come out of here 3-2, I feel good. We saw growth. We played seven different lineups."

Cary-Grove also defeated Barrington (25-16, 25-12) and Fenwick (25-18, 25-10).

Fenwick (2-6) finished in fifth place after defeating Barrington (2-8) 25-22, 25-20.

Barrington also looked to take some positives from the tournament.

"It was a nice day for us," Broncos coach Christopher Bronke said. "We got to play with the lineups. We got to learn from the other teams."