Cary-Grove tops Huntley to claim FVC Valley
Cary-Grove entered Thursday night’s Fox Valley Conference Valley Division girls volleyball showdown with Huntley with two items at the top of its agenda: 1) avenge a September loss in Huntley, and 2) clinch a share of the FVC Valley Division championship.
Check and check.
The Trojans treated a raucous home crowd to a 25-22, 25-18 win over the talented Red Raiders. Cary-Grove moves to 29-4 overall and 9-1 in Valley action while Huntley drops to 23-6 overall and 8-3 in league play. The win assured the Trojans of no worse than a share of their third straight conference title.
“The difference in this match compared to the last time we played them was our offense was much faster and we played more consistently,” said Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis. “Our serve receive was very good and we served with confidence.”
Langanis was also impressed with the Trojans’ blocking, led by Mallory Wilczynski (8 blocks) and Sheila Wilhelmi (6 blocks).
“Mallory and Sheila were outstanding at the net,” said Langanis. “They have so many good hitters, but we limited their touches.”
Huntley was hindered by 14 service errors, 9 in the second game.
“In the second game, it is amazing we scored 18 points and had 9 service errors,” said Huntley coach Michelle Jakubowski. “Other than the service errors we played great. Our play at the net and our serve receive were very good.”
Cary-Grove’s recipe to victory in the first game was a quick start then staving off a Huntley comeback. The Trojans never trailed in Game 2.
In Game 1, The Trojans held what looked to be a comfortable 21-13 advantage after a kill by Ashley Rosch. However, the Red Raiders fought back and got to within a point of the Trojans 23-22 after a kill by Jaina Jackson. Huntley couldn’t get any closer as Cary-Grove closed out the game on a pair of kills by Melanie Jereb.
In Game 2, with the score tied at 12, the Trojans seized control with 8 straight points. A kill by Rosch gave Cary-Grove a 20-12 lead.
The Trojans won the game and match on a service error by Huntley.
Rosch led Cary-Grove with 11 kills.
“We played much better in every aspect than we did the last time we played Huntley,” said Rosch. “We were really amped up to play. This was a great win against an amazing Huntley team.”
Senior setter Jess Bartczyszyn, playing with a broken nose, dished out 19 assists.
Samantha Boesch had a monster night for Huntley with 17 kills and 15 digs while Amy Dion collected 19 digs.