Cary-Grove crowned state volleyball champ

NORMAL -- "Cary-Grove volleyball", as the Trojans like to call it, turned out to be the best in the state.

With as dominant a performance as it has put together all season, the Trojans completed their magical season at Redbird Arena here Saturday night with a resounding 25-23, 25-17 win over Lyons Township in the Class 4A state championship match.

Cary-Grove finished the season 38-4 and will bring home the school's first state championship trophy in any team sport. A welcome home rally will be held in the school's gymnasium at 1 p.m. Sunday.

"I'm really proud," said 15th-year Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis, a former player at the University of Iowa who won a state championship as a high school player in Houghton, MI. "It's not easy to bring your top game into an environment like this but they were focused and determined. Once they got rolling I had a sense that it was going to take a lot to stop them.

"This has been the goal from Day One -- to win the state championship."

And the Trojans were impressive in doing so.

"There's so many emotions going through all of us right now," said senior setter Abbey Heredia. "This was our goal since the beginning of the season. I'm just so grateful we had this opportunity. I've shed a few tears already ... tears of joy. This is the first time I've been able to end a season on a good note. We wanted to play with all the heart and energy we could and we definitely played Cary-Grove volleyball tonight."

Junior outside Kelly Lamberti was on fire all night for the Trojans, registering a match-high 12 kills, which coupled with her 17 kills against Glenbrook South in the semifinals set a record for most kills in a Class 4A state final tournament.

"We put everything on the floor and played as hard as we possibly could," Lamberti said. "(Lyons) was an awesome team and we knew we'd have to give it everything we had. We put all our heart into this and we didn't let anything hit the floor. I'm just speechless right now."

Game 1 went back and forth. Cary-Grove had what appeared to be a comfortable 21-16 lead but the Lions (37-5) came back to eventually tie it at 22 and then took a 23-22 lead on a kill from junior Jocelynn Birks, who led her team with 8 kills.

But then a Lamberti slam tied the game again and a Lyons double hit foul put the Trojans at game point. Senior Colleen Hargrove, clearly one of the unsung standouts for the Trojans, delievered an ace to the left side of the court to give the Trojans Game 1.

Game 2 was never in serious doubt, although Lyons was still hanging tough, down 14-13 when Cary-Grove started to put the Lions away.

"I saw our serving getting stronger and stronger and Lyons' serve receive started to break down," said Langanis. "That's when I had that sense. We were starting to find holes in their defense. We maintained ball control and we passed nails tonight."

Leading 23-17 after Heredia dumped one of her patented backward tip kills to the left corner, the Trojans closed out the match and the state championship as Heredia perfectly set sophomore Ashley Rosch for the 24th point, setting up Hargrove for a perfectly placed state championship ace, which sent the nearly 1,000 Cary-Grove fans in attendance, including a large majorty of the school's victorious football team and its coaching staff, into a raucous frenzy.

"It's just overwhelming," Hargrove said. "I couldn't believe it happened. Once that ball hit the floor my whole body just shook. What an amazing feeling,"

Hargrove and Heredia each had 4 kills and senior Kayla Klinger added 3. Smith had 2 aces and played her usual steady floor game for the Trojans.

"It's an amazing feeling," Smith said. "We worked so hard and we deserve it so much. It's just awesome."

Just as Cary-Grove volleyball has been all year long.