Hampshire made it clear throughout the season which opponent it wanted to dethrone.

“Huntley’s always kind of been that rival, and we’ve had a fire under our butts the whole season,” Whip-Purs senior setter Kylie Lambert said. “We’re always pushing for each other. We’re never settling for anything less.”

Huntley had recent history on its side as the Fox Valley Conference champion from 2022-24, but Hampshire made its own history Thursday night with a program-defining 25-18, 22-25, 26-24 victory.

The win gives the Whips (28-5, 17-1 FVC) their first FVC championship in volleyball.

Huntley (25-10, 15-3) had a shot at securing a share of a fourth straight FVC championship, but Hampshire kept it to itself with a series sweep against their rivals.

“It definitely means a lot for the program. Battling two years to a great team like Huntley, I know they’ve been on top of this conference for multiple years,” Hampshire second-year coach Omar Cortez said. “It’s good to see these athletes fight it out every day, and basically give me everything they have. Just to leave it all out there and take it all tonight, it was worth the long season.”

Hampshire looked to win Thursday’s match in straight sets, but Huntley scored the final five points of the second set after trailing 22-20 to force a third. Raiders junior Izzy Whitehouse had six of her match-high 13 kills during the second set, while also adding an ace late.

Sophomore middle blocker Lucy Watson had two blocks during the second set and finished her night with five kills, along with sophomore Riley Galanis with five kills.

In the third set, the Whips battled back from several deficits, including at 19-16 late. A dump kill by Ella Ingve and tip kill by senior Katelyn Petterson (nine kills) later tied the match at 20. Hampshire then scored two of the next three points on a block by senior Anna Schiltz and ace by Lambert.

Schiltz later added a block for a 24-21 lead. Huntley scored three straight points, including a pair of kills from Whitehouse, to tie the set at 24. A kill by senior outside hitter Elizabeth King made it 25-24 in favor of the Whips, and the match ended when a Huntley ball hit the ceiling and went over the net to Hampshire’s side.

“It means the absolute world,” said King, who smashed 10 kills and added an ace for the Whips. “We’ve been training so hard for this. We’ve fought together through absolutely everything. This means so much.”

Huntley entered the season with a 51-3 record in the FVC since 2022, with none of Hampshire’s eight seniors having beaten the Raiders. The Whips were able to do that twice this fall.

“The biggest thing is they have so many offensive threats,” Huntley coach Karen Naymola said of Hampshire. “They’re consistent all over, so you key in on shutting down one of their outsides, and they have another right side they can go to. That first game we were trying to find our aggressive serve, but we missed four or five serves. We had to let up a little on our serve just to try and find that consistency.”

Abby Whitehouse had 13 assists for Huntley, Rachael Hein had nine assists and Emily Ernst added seven. Sophia Tocmo led all players with 17 digs. Izzy Whitehouse added 10 digs and three aces to her 13 kills.

For Hampshire, Petterson and freshman Lily Ingve had nine kills apiece. Lambert had 17 assists, Peyton Wurtz had 14 digs and Megan Spenk had seven digs. Cortez also pointed to the standout play of senior Hailey Homola as one of the keys to the Whips’ victory.

Cortez said winning the FVC title with a group of eight committed seniors makes the accomplishment even sweeter.

“I really wanted it for that group of girls,” Cortez said. “They’ve been together for so long. They’ve been fighting in this conference. On any given night, you can give it up to anybody. It was nice for them to earn that.”

https://www.shawlocal.com/northwest-herald/2025/10/24/hampshire-beats-huntley-wins-1st-fox-valley-conference-championship/