Lengthy service runs from multiple players enabled Huntley to find its rhythm and keep the Hononegah offense out of sync during Thursday’s Class 4A Huntley Regional final.

Middle blocker Summer Massow, libero Sophia Tocmo and outside hitter Mia Jacobelli each recorded aces for the Red Raiders, who closed the first set on a 9-1 run before dominating the second set to secure a 25-17, 25-8 victory over the Indians in Huntley.

With the win, Huntley (27-10, 15-3 FVC) brought home its ninth regional championship in the last decade.

“We all wanted it really bad, especially since it was the last time playing on our home court,” Tocmo said. “We all played together. We worked on serving a lot in practice and that really came in handy. A lot us got on good serving runs, so that was good for us. We have a lot of confidence in our defense. We trust that we’ll execute and it’s really fun to play with that mindset.”

Back-to-back aces from Jacobelli allowed Huntley to take a 13-9 lead and force a Hononegah timeout midway through the first set. With the Indians (23-14) needing a spark, outside hitter Liliana Fox tied the score at 16-16 with a pair of kill shots, which led to a Huntley timeout. Fox finished with a team-high four kills while adding one block for the Indians.

“Huntley’s a great team,” Hononegah coach Kaylee Libby said. “They serve aggressively and they don’t make a lot of errors in transition. They have a scrappy defense and it’s tough to score against them. Their serving really controlled the game and that’s where we struggled the most. We got stuck in a lot of rotations and that’s where they found their success.”

Errors proved costly for the Indians, who struggled to receive serves and generate offense late in the first set and throughout the second set. Three straight errors gave Huntley a 19-16 lead and despite another timeout, the No. 3 seed Hononegah couldn’t slow the momentum. With Tocmo behind the service line, the No. 2 seed Huntley closed out the opening set convincingly.

“Hononegah plays great defense,” Huntley coach Karen Naymola said. “We knew they had some big hitters and our goal was to serve aggressively and keep them out of their system. We wanted to be aggressive so they couldn’t run their middle and I thought that was definitely the key... We came out confident and focused. I never felt like we lost control.”

The second set wasn’t close, as Huntley held a 12-1 lead and forced the Indians to utilize two early timeouts. While Hononegah’s serve receive woes continued, Huntley attacked from all angles offensively, putting away clean passes from setters Abby Whitehouse and Emily Ernst. The two setters combined for nine assists to command the Huntley offense on Wednesday.

“We worked so hard, so it was good to see us put it all together,” Whitehouse said. “My hitters are really good at placing the ball and telling me what they need. That’s been working for us and that’s what helps us click. The game plan was to come out with a ton of energy... Our outsides needed to be able to swing and cover the block since they had a really good middle.”

The Red Raiders successfully slowed down Hononegah senior and 6-foot-5 Eastern Illinois recruit Addison Erb, who finished with three kills and one block. Outside hitter Izzy Whitehouse notched four kills, most of which came in the second set, to lead the Huntley attack. Massow and Riley Galanis teamed up for five blocks to anchor the front-row defense for the Red Raiders, who advance to face to the Class 4A sectional at Hampshire, which begins next Tuesday.

Huntley will face No. 1 seed Libertyville in the sectional semifinal 6 p.m. Tuesday at Hampshire. The Red Raiders, who are seeking a fifth sectional championship in seven years, took fourth in Class 4A last year.

“Offensively, we started making some good decisions,” Naymola said. “We spread our offense out a little and that got us a nice lead... When our serve receive is on, we have a good offense we can run and mix up. Even when we’re struggling a little bit, we have so many offensive threats and one of our strengths is keeping our offense involved and making smart decisions.”