Girls volleyball: Cary-Grove continues its hot streak

A two-set loss to Jacobs on Sept. 14 was especially hard on Cary-Grove, which had just beaten undefeated Huntley five days earlier.

"It wasn't Cary-Grove style. It wasn't what we're used to," Trojans coach Patty Langanis said. "We really pushed hard after that. We pushed harder than we have all year. Practice was incredibly difficult and I thought they really came together, started supporting each other and seeing how hard they can work.

"They had a lot of pride when they walked out of the gym."

Since that loss, the Trojans' hard work in the gym has resulted in plenty of wins on the court. C-G continued its turnaround Tuesday with a 25-22, 25-18 Fox Valley Conference victory over McHenry.

The Trojans are now 9-2 over their past 11 matches and improved to 15-9 and 8-5 in the FVC, one match behind Jacobs and Huntley for second place. The Warriors fell to 16-13 and 5-8 in the FVC.

C-G and McHenry were tied nine times in the first set. Senior middle blocker Mya Bajramovic broke a 21-21 tie with a block and later gave the Trojans the first-set victory with her third kill. She finished with five kills and four blocks.

The Trojans' recent string of wins has given them plenty of confidence to close out tight sets.

"I think we all knew that we weren't going to lose," Bajramovic said of the first set. "We knew that we just had to put everything in it and finish that set and get over it and move on to the next set. We just picked up our energy and we really support each other. We over-communicated and just helped each other build each other up.

"We're really clicking. In practices, we're all working 110%. Everyone is putting in the same amount of effort and I think that's elevating our play."

Junior middle blocker/right-side hitter Tricia Kennedy said the Trojans have become much more talkative and focused since their early-season struggles.

"Before it felt like there were six individual people on the court and not one team," said Kennedy, who had six kills and two aces Tuesday. "The practice [after Jacobs] was really tough, but we worked hard and we all started trusting each other after that."

Another key to the Trojans' turnaround has been the play of junior setter Isabelle Strader, who is playing the position for the first time. Strader hurt her knee in the match after Jacobs, but worked her way back.

"Isabelle came back and really worked hard to prove that she was ready to play, like really hard," Langanis said. "I think it showed the team a lot of respect, like, 'Wow, we're all working hard.' And we just amped up everything after that.

"Since then, they've just been so much more confident, more quicker."

McHenry was playing without its starting setter, senior Aspen O'Brien, who was out with a concussion. The Warriors trailed by 10 points late in the second set at 20-10, but made a run, closing the deficit to four points at 22-18.

McHenry coach Hilary Agnello was proud to see her team fight back.

"Especially when our main setter and all-tournament player is down," Agnello said. "I wanted to see more of a fight out of them and not a give-up. They didn't use it as an excuse and that was nice to see. From a team perspective, I couldn't have asked for more."

Alexes Koenig led the Trojans' defense with 16 digs and Juliana Chapman added six kills and two aces.

McHenry was led by Ella Boland with four kills and two aces, Kendall Krumsee with 12 digs and an ace, Abbie Honkala with four kills and two aces and Micaela Williams with 10 assists and four digs.