Girls volleyball: Barrington wins title at Huntley invite
What a way for Barrington volleyball coach Michelle Jakubowski to celebrate her 48th birthday.
Jakubowski's Fillies won the Huntley Invitational Saturday with a hard-fought 25-23, 13-25, 25-14 victory over Belvidere North.
The Fillies avenged an earlier loss to Belvidere North in the Jacobs Tournament.
Barrington moves to 21-5 for the season. It was the Blue Thunder's (24-1) first loss.
"We played very well in the first and third games," said the Barrington coach. "We were not happy with the second game. We got off to a good start in the third game and were more aggressive with our serve. Our serve receive was much better and we played within our system."
Propelled by 2 aces from Sarah Jensen the Fillies scored the first 6 points of the third and decisive game.
After a kill by Campbell Paris, the Fillies held a comfortable 16-4 lead. North never challenged. A kill by Jenna Meitzler gave Barrington the game, match and championship.
Paris paced the offensive attack for the Fillies with 14 kills, 4 blocks and 3 aces. Jessica Horwath added 7 kills, 2 blocks and 2 aces for the tournament champions.
"The second set was one of worst of the season," said Horwath. "We knew we had to play better in the third set. We got the early lead and momentum. We have great team chemistry and we trust each other. Belvidere North gives us great competition. It was nice to beat them after losing earlier in the season."
Senior Amanda Cleary spearheaded the Fillies' defensive attack with 13 digs.
Avary DeBlieck wanted to make sure Huntley got at least a third-place finish in its own invitational.
Committed to Division I Miami of Florida, DeBlieck, collected 8 kills, 3 blocks with 2 aces to lead the Red Raiders to a 25-12, 25-20 win over Yorkville Christian to claim third place.
"We wanted to bounce back after losing to Barrington (in the semifinals)," said DeBlieck. "We played some music and pumped ourselves up between matches. It was a good way to finish the tournament."
Huntley coach Karen Naymola realizes how valuable DeBlieck is to the team.
"Avary is our leader," said Naymola. "She is our loudest voice in a positive way."
Allyson Panzloff and Emily Wills added 5 kills apiece while Maggie Duyos spearheaded the defense with 22 digs.
In Game 1 with the score tied at 10, the Red Raiders took control with a 7-0 run. Panzloff and DeBlieck had 2 kills apiece as Huntley opened up a 17-10 lead.
The Red Raiders took a 1-0 lead in the match on a kill by Lauren Bauer.
In the second game, with the score tied at 12, Huntley went on a 7-0 led by 4 kills from DeBlieck.
A kill by Panzloff gave Huntley third place in the tournament.