High school volleyball: Prairie Ridge runs away from Cary-Grove in FVC sweep

CARY – Prairie Ridge sophomore middle blocker Mackenzie Schmidt jumped at the net and put away a free ball, giving the Wolves their seventh consecutive point against Cary-Grove in the second set.

Prairie Ridge’s bench erupted in celebration after Schmidt’s smash, her sixth kill of the night, and the Wolves rode that high all the way to a 25-19, 25-20 Fox Valley Conference victory over the Trojans on Tuesday.

Prairie Ridge entered the match with only one conference win and back-to-back losses to Huntley and Jacobs. The Wolves (2-4, 2-3 FVC) were looking to snap out of a funk and did so in a big way.

“It just came together,” said Prairie Ridge senior outside hitter Ansley Morlock, who led everybody with 10 kills, including two set winners. “At that point, I think we just really flowed for the first time this season. It just felt so good. I think the excitement just built up and we kept going with it.”

Tied at 12 in the second set, the Wolves grabbed the momentum in what had been a back-and-forth battle and scored seven points in a row for a 19-12 lead, courtesy of five kills – two from Schmidt, two from Vanessa Holtz and one from Morlock – and an ace from Maya Breseman.

The Trojans (5-5, 2-3) eventually climbed to within 20-17 of Prairie Ridge on the strength of three aces from Erin Wadzinski, but Schmidt again came up with a key play for the Wolves – this time stuffing middle blocker Tricia Kennedy for her third block to keep them from getting any closer.

Prairie Ridge had a well-rounded attack, led by Ansley and Schmidt, but also got strong contributions with three kills apiece from Anna Siegwald and Vanessa Holtz (seven assists) and two kills apiece from Brianna Scheid and Haylee Yelle. Senior setter Rilee Schulze added 15 assists and an ace.

“I think we were just communicating as a team finally,” said senior libero Breckan Severson, who had a team-best nine digs. “The back row was doing good, everyone’s sets were on fire, and all of our kills and our blocks were very much there for us tonight. I was very proud of our team tonight.”

Prairie Ridge coach Stefanie Otto said her team played with much better discipline, something the Wolves have lacked at times this season.

“Maya got them out of system a bit with her serve, and I think that we were able to capitalize,” Otto said. “They weren’t able to get those middles going as well as I think they wanted, and that really enabled us to set up our block a little better.

“At the beginning of the year, we would miss every single out-of-system ball. We’ve been working hard on that, and it’s paying dividends now. A lot of balls are out of system, so we just need to make sure we keep the ball in play.”

The Trojans were led by Kennedy (two aces) and Meg Rothermel with five kills each. Juliana Chapman added four kills, Isabelle Strader had 16 assists and Nicole Novak had eight digs.

Inconsistency and a lack of energy caught up to the Trojans in the end, C-G coach Patty Langanis said.

“We just had a hard time getting any of our offense going,” Langanis said. “We weren’t consistent, so we made a lot of unforced errors. And a lot of miscommunication, lack of reading the hitters. It just seemed like we got a little frozen there.

“And then Prairie Ridge got their energy up and started playing with a lot more confidence, and we were just playing catchup after that.”