Cary-Grove aces regional final test
Five aces helped the Cary-Grove girls volleyball team deal Prairie Ridge four of a kind.
Cary-Grove posted 5 aces, a mild reflection of the overall aggressive serving the Trojans used to disarm Prairie Ridge 25-18, 25-17 in the Class 4A Grant regional title match in Fox Lake Thursday.
It was the fourth time this season the Trojans defeated the younger Wolves, who started just two seniors.
“We work on our serve all the time in practice,” said Cary-Grove senior Ashley Rosch, who notched an ace to go with 9 kills and 6 blocks. “That’s because most games come down to serving and serve receive.”
The regional title is the ninth overall and third straight for Cary-Grove (32-4).
“It never gets old,” said smiling Trojans coach Patty Langanis, the architect behind all nine of Cary-Grove’s regional championships. “When you’ve been around as long as we’ve been around, you’ve seen too many crazy things happen. It makes you appreciate every step.”
The Trojans advance to a Prairie Ridge sectional semifinal against DeKalb (27-6) Tuesday at 6 p.m. DeKalb defeated South Elgin to win the Elgin regional. Huntley (30-7) will play Hononegah (23-9) in the second semifinal at 7 p.m.
Never was Cary-Grove’s serving more effective than early in Game 2. Prairie Ridge (18-19) had bolted to an 8-3 lead behind 2 kills apiece from senior Taylor Onoyan and junior Caitlin Brauneis, but the Trojans gained a side out when Melanie Jereb crushed a spike down the left sideline for one of her 8 kills.
That put senior Korey Kronforst at the service line. She delivered 1 of her 2 aces to highlight a 5-point Cary-Grove run, which tied the score 8-8.
The Trojans trailed 10-8 moments later when it was Jereb’s turn to serve. The Creighton-bound senior’s debilitating jump serve yielded 1 of her 2 aces and completely took Prairie Ridge out of its offense. Cary-Grove feasted on overpasses by the Wolves and took command of the second game with a 7-0 spree.
“They serve very aggressively, and when we start losing our serve receive tends to break down and let up even more,” Brauneis said. “You can’t do that against an awesome offense like they have. They have every asset.”
Jereb, who also finished with 10 digs, said the Trojans had to refocus on the fundamentals in order to handle their Fox Valley Conference Valley Division rivals for a fourth straight time.
“We had to be rock solid on the basic parts of our game,” Jereb said. “I thought it was great that we came out strong against Prairie Ridge after just playing them last week.”
Cary-Grove setter Jess Bartczyszyn finished with 17 assists despite wearing a plastic mask to protect her recently reset broken nose.
Brauneis led Prairie Ridge with 7 kills, Onoyan had 2 blocks and 3 kills, senior Katie Hamilton had 3 kills, MacKenzie Humm had 13 assists and sophomore Taylor Otto finished with 5 assists and the Wolves’ only ace.