Saturday's Fox Valley roundup
The South Elgin girls volleyball team brought home a trophy Saturday.
The Storm (6-15-1) notched a third-place finish in the Conant Tournament, picking up wins over Maine East (25-21, 25-8) and Trinity (19-25, 25-21, 15-6). South Elgin then fell to host Conant (25-18, 16-25, 15-11) before eventually defeating Glenbard North 26-27, 25-20, 15-11 to earn third place.
Storm coach Joni Melahn saw her team double its wins in one day with a record of 3-1.
"Our last two tournaments have been tough," she said. "This is a nice tourney for us. We are definitely playing teams at our level. We've tended to make a lot of mistakes in our earlier invites. We controlled them this time and that helped us get third place."
Amber Schnecke led the Storm offense with 31 kills while Alyssa Krause added 25 kills, 8 aces, 9 digs, and 6 blocks. Courtney Sanocki registered 66 assists, 24 digs, 9 aces, and 7 kills over the 4 games while Sarah Havermann led the defensive effort with 51 digs. Katelyn Stonecipher also contributed by recording 47 digs, 5 kills, 5 aces, and 3 assists.
Girls volleyball
At Hampshire Invite: The host Whip-Purs (21-2) posted a perfect 5-0 record to earn first place in the Hampshire Invite. Hampshire defeated Rockford Auburn 25-13, 25-11, Byron 25-10, 25-12, Jacobs 25-21, 25-15, Winnebago 27-25, 25-17, and second place finisher, Marian Central 23-25, 25-16, 15-12. Marian had eliminated Hampshire from the postseason last year. Amy Wehrs led Hampshire with a team highs in kills (35) and aces (14). Kara Wehrs finished the day with 34 kills and a team-high 50 assists. Leigh-Ann Libby added 38 assists while Tia Incaprio paced the defense with 50 digs to lead the Whip-Purs to their first place finish and a perfect 7-0 record this week.
Jacobs (8-16) placed third in the Hampshire Invite with a tournament record of 3-2. The Golden Eagles defeated Winnebago 25-20, 26-24, Byron 25-21, 25-21, and Rockford Auburn 25-17, 25-19. Jacobs' only two losses on the day were to first place finisher Hampshire (25-21, 25-15) and second place finisher Marian Central (25-20, 25-13). Freshman Alyssa Ehrhardt paced the Golden Eagles' attack with 31 kills and 9 aces while also recording 19 digs and 4 blocks defensively. Quinn Luehring turned in a solid tournament providing 64 assists, 32 digs, 6 kills, and 4 aces while Taylor Lesner added 26 kills, 36 digs, 5 aces, and 4 blocks. Mattie Stearns (52 digs, 2 assists) and Brittany White (13 kills, 12 digs, 11 blocks) also contributed to the Golden Eagles' third place finish.
At Asics Challenge: Crystal Lake South (16-3) played its way to a first-place finish in the bronze division in the Asics Challenge at Mother McAuley. After falling to Sandburg 25-16, 25-19 and Gross Catholic (Neb.) 25-14, 25-17 on Friday night in pool play, the Gators came out strong Saturday turning in a 3-0 record for the day. Crystal Lake South defeated Wahlert (IA) 25-21, 25-23, Downers Grove North 8-25, 25-17, 25-22, and Stagg 25-19, 25-22 to win the division.
"The girls were able to bounce back strong after losing twice on Friday. I'm proud of the way they played," said Gators' coach Jorie Fontana.
Hannah Burkle paced the offense recording a team-high 30 kills to go with 6 aces while Chelsea Sirovatka added 87 assists over the 5 games. Fallon Meyer led the defense with 21 digs.
Cary-Grove (19-4) turned in a 3-2 record to finish 10th out of 24 teams. The Trojans started off the tournament defeating Stagg 26-24, 25-19 in a close match before losing to Sacred Heart (KY) 25-20, 25-18. Cary-Grove then picked up two more tough victories over Mother McAuley (25-12, 20-25, 25-22) and Notre Dame Academy (KY) (25-23, 28-26) before eventually falling to Catholic Memorial (WI) 25-21, 25-23.
Kelly Lamberti recorded a team-high 77 kills for the tournament while Abbey Heredia also turned in a team-high performance adding 120 assists over the Trojans' 5 games. Casey Grochinski added 45 digs for Cary-Grove.
"We're real proud of our showing here," Trojans coach Patty Langanis said. "It's been a tournament we've always aspired to be a part of. Overall we couldn't be happier. In general our play improved so much. We were hanging in there with some of the top teams.
"Our offense became a lot more dynamic this weekend," Langanis said. "Our setter, Abbey Heredia, created a real diverse offense, which we had to have to be competitive. And Kelly raised her game to a whole new level."
Westminster Christian d. Somonauk: The Warriors (17-8) registered a 3-game victory Friday night defeating Somonauk 25-17, 23-25, 25-13.
Jessica Benson paced the Warriors' offense recording 11 kills, 2 aces, and 5 digs while Cate Gibson added 5 kills, 9 aces, and 5 digs. Hannah Graves also contributed in the victory with 4 kills, 20 assists, 2 aces, and 5 digs.
John Leusch, Josh Welge and Courtney LaFerle contributed.