CLS grabs first league title since 2004

Doing the expected isn't always easy.

Crystal Lake South made winning the Fox Valley Conference Valley Division look simple.

The Gators claimed the FVC Valley Division crown with a hard-fought 25-22, 25-20 win over Cary-Grove in Cary Tuesday night. It was Senior Night for the Trojans.

South, 21-13 overall and 9-0 in the conference, wins the conference championship for the first time since 2004. The Gators can complete a perfect conference slate with a win at McHenry Thursday night.

"One of our big goals was to win the conference and it feels great to accomplish that goal," said Crystal Lake South coach Laura Jensen. "This was a very intense match and nobody got more than 1 or 2 points at a time. There wasn't any 6-0, 7-0 runs tonight. Cary-Grove is too good for that to happen.

"We have so many weapons and are very hard to defend. If our opponent takes someone away we have other options."

The Gators' balance was evident as Caitlin Schumacher led the way with 8 kills. Katie Trayser added 7 kills, Erin Johnson deposited 6 kills, Morgan Kilberger delivered 5 kills and Caitlin Mize had 4 kills.

'They have a very strong team and you can't make mistakes against them," said Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis. "It is hard to string points against them. We were missing our block and were slow to the block. They were the better team tonight."

There were 6 lead changes and 4 ties in Game 1 and both teams enjoyed a 3-point advantage.

The Trojans (27-8, 6-3) held a 3-point lead, 20-17 after a kill from freshman Kelly Lamberti.

Trailing 23-22, the Gators responded by scoring the final 3 points to capture Game 1. Schumacher's kill gave South a leg up in the match 1-0.

Game 2 was just as closely contested as Game 1.

The Trojans nursed a slim 19-17 lead after a kill by Allison Straumann.

With the score tied at 20, the Gators captured the game, match and conference crown by scoring the final 5 points.

Two kills by Kilberger, a kill from Mize and a block from Johnson helped the Gators finish strong.

"It is an awesome awesome feeling to win the conference," said Kilberger. "The fans were all hyped up with it being their senior night. Coach Jensen just told us to block the crowd out and just concentrate on the match.. We showed we are the best team in the conference and we are the team with the most heart. Now, we want to beat McHenry and be undefeated conference champs."

Straumann and Lamberti paced the Trojans with 9 kills apiece. Defensive specialist Erin Wahl came up with 13 digs.