Girls volleyball: Carmel reaches sectional final; Grayslake Central drops 3-set match

As match point came her way, teed up perfectly by setter Addi Smith from the other end of the net, Prairie Ridge outside hitter Adeline Grider had victory on her mind.

The 6-foot junior soared, ponytail flying, and ripped a right-handed attack that bounced hard off the floor, sending a pack of her Wolves teammates in her direction to celebrate. Grider's 17th kill sent Prairie Ridge into the Class 3A Carmel Sectional final thanks to a 22-25, 25-21, 25-20 win over Grayslake Central in Tuesday night’s second semifinal in Mundelein.

“Leading up to [the last kill], I was like, ‘I’m going to get this point for my team. I’m going to put the ball down, and that’s how we’re going to end it,’ ” Grider said.

“Addie Smith,” Grider added of her setter, “she’s amazing.”

The Wolves’ come-from-behind win earned them a match with Carmel (28-10), which outlasted Crystal Lake Central 25-12, 16-25, 25-18. The championship match will be played at 6 p.m. Thursday.

“It was super gritty,” Prairie Ridge coach Leah Groat said of her players’ effort. “They played really, really tough, especially when we were down at one point [16-12] in the second set and I called a timeout. They were mentally tough too. They never checked out. They were prepared to fight. We haven’t been in a ton of situations like that all season so, especially in the playoffs, it was awesome that they were able to do that.”

Prairie Ridge (30-7) scored six of the last eight points in the second set after Grayslake Central (21-16) pulled even at 19-all. Kills by Ava Bell and Grider and Lauren Bruce’s ace helped the Wolves force a third set.

“In the huddle, we were like, ‘OK, now it’s time to lock in, and we need to turn this up,’ ” Grider said. “We were like, ‘We can’t wait for anybody to step up, so it has to be you.’ That’s what Coach Groat was saying. ... We all stepped up.”

Abby Smith added 10 kills for Prairie Ridge, while her twin Addi delivered 30 assists. Tegan Vrbancic led the Wolves’ defensive effort with 16 kills. Grider had 10 digs, while Kaelin Bacak and Addi Smith each totaled eight.

Ella LaPorte had 11 kills for Grayslake Central (24-12), which led most of the opening set. Prairie Ridge pulled even at 18-all, but Grayslake Central prevailed when Brooke Gulley dinked a kill over a block for the winner.

In the first semifinal, Carmel got 14 kills from Scarlett Olszowka, who slammed the match winner. Brailyn Albanese added seven kills, and Emma Faulstick had 13 digs. Liv Johnson finished with four blocks, three kills and an ace. Suzy Trznadel and libero Beca Arreola each served three aces.

“Game 1, we had a ton of energy and established momentum early,” Carmel coach David Pazely said. “We went on runs of four, five, six points all throughout that first set. But [Crystal Lake Central] responded. You don’t get to a sectional semi if you don’t have the talent. Clearly, they do, and they bounced back.”

In the final set, Central cut its gap to 20-15 on a block by Emily Mazza, but Albanese answered with a kill. The sophomore drove another one through a block, and the Tigers couldn’t answer.

“We were able to step into the third with confidence,” Pazely said. “Even though we went down early [multiple two-point deficits], we kept it close, and that was the difference. We knew if we kept pushing, pushing, pushing, we’d start to string those points together.”