Girls volleyball: Huntley comes back to down Cary-Grove
Maybe it was Huntley being fatigued playing its third match in three nights to start the 2018 season.
Maybe it was Cary-Grove being fired up playing its first match of the season.
The upset-minded Trojans, playing before a raucous home crowd, won the first game 25-21.
The talented Red Raiders bounced back from a first game loss and defeated the pesky Trojans in the final two games 25-21, 25-16 to win the Fox Valley Conference match 2-1 in Cary Thursday night.
"In the first game we looked like a tired team playing its third match in three nights," said Huntley coach Karen Naymola." We came out flat. Cary-Grove's crowd was loud and they fed off of that in the first game. We came out relaxed in the last two games, passed better and showed a lot of poise and got the hard-fought conference win on the road. Conference wins on the road are always important."
Senior Julia Johnson paced the Red Raiders (3-0, 2-0) with 15 kills and 6 blocks.
"Coach calmed us down after the first game and told us to relax and we got this," said Johnson. "We showed mental toughness in the last two games. We have high goals and expectations. We want to win conference and go to state."
Emma Konie added 10 kills while Taylor Jakubowski added 33 assists and 22 digs for the winners.
In Game 1, Evynn Layshock's game-winning kill gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead in the match.
In the second game, Huntley broke a 4-4 lead with a 6-0 run. A kill by Konie gave the Red Raiders a 10-4 advantage and a kill by Loren Alberts tied the match at 1-1.
Spearheaded by 5 kills from Johnson, Huntley blitzed Cary-Grove to start Game 3 with a 10-0 run.
The Trojans didn't panic and got within 2 at 14-12 on a kill by Splitt but Cary-Grove (0-1, 0-1) couldn't get any closer.
A kill by Johnson gave the Raiders the game and match.
Layshock paced the Trojans with 9 kills while Jenna Splitt contributed 8 kills, 10 assists and 17 digs. Kate Selsky collected 16 digs.
"I was pleasantly surprised with the way we played in the first game," said Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis. "I honestly thought Huntley could blow us out. They play at such a fast tempo and we couldn't match them in that tempo in the last two games. I was really happy with the way we played for a first match of the season. We are very young and should get better as the season goes on."