Girls volleyball: Mykaela Wallen serves Crystal Lake Central past Dundee-Crown

CARPENTERSVILLE – Crystal Lake Central sophomore Mykaela Wallen went on a 12-point service run with five aces to close out the second set against Dundee-Crown and force a third.

In the third, it was Wallen again who stepped up at the line and helped turn a 14-14 tie into a big lead for the Tigers.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Wallen, who had eight aces. “It felt really good because it was a full team effort. We had a fantastic offense and defense backing me up. It wasn’t just me. I felt the whole team was ready.”

Wallen’s eight aces proved too much for the Chargers as Central came back to defeat Dundee-Crown 20-25, 25-5, 25-19 in their Fox Valley Conference match Thursday night.

The win keeps the Tigers (16-10, 10-4 FVC) alive in the conference race, although they would need a lot of help with only four matches remaining. Huntley clinched a share of the FVC title Thursday with a sweep against Jacobs and can win it outright with its next win.

Central coach Amy Johnson said Wallen’s performance at the service line was something special.

“That was definitely huge for us to get back the momentum,” she said. “Eight aces, I think that’s pretty unheard of at the service line. ... In the first set, I felt like all of the rallies were going [D-C’s] way and we were making some silly errors. We missed a couple of serves and our serve receive was off.

“Kudos to [D-C]. They are such an improved program and team. They beat us last time, so I think there was a big chip on our shoulder with them being one of our conference losses on our home floor.”

While Wallen was serving up aces in the second and third sets, D-C’s Sydney Komperda played a key role at the service line in the first with three consecutive aces, turning a 9-7 deficit into a 10-9 lead. From that point, the Chargers (13-8, 8-6) never trailed again in the first set.

In the second, Central jumped out to a commanding 8-2 lead. Wallen started her run at 13-5 and the Tigers scored the next 12 points.

Gabbie Anderson finished with 23 assists for Central, Bree Hubacher had eight kills and 10 digs, and Wallen added six kills to go with her eight aces. Mia Ginter led the defense with 19 digs.

Tigers freshman middle blocker Emily Mazza had a strong performance in only her second varsity start, subbing in for Siena Smiejek, who wasn’t playing because of illness. Mazza had five kills and an ace.

“It’s a really great experience playing up at the varsity level,” Mazza said. “It’s a whole different atmosphere, and I love it. It feels great to step up and know I’m the next option, that I’m good enough to be out there with them. I just love playing with this team.

“I was really nervous, but they were super comforting. When I do get kills, they go crazy and give me all this love.”

Audrey Prusko led D-C’s offense with six kills and two blocks, while Rachel Piluski and Kylie Hanson had five kills apiece. Komperda finished with five aces.

Wallen is hopeful that Thursday’s performance is a sign of things to come.

“I want to make it to sectionals,” Wallen said. “We were scouting our regional and I feel like if we play with the drive and urgency like we did tonight, we can have a really good postseason.”