High school volleyball: Crystal Lake South tops Huntley to increase FVC lead

CRYSTAL LAKE – Huntley came out Tuesday and executed its game plan to near perfection against Fox Valley Conference leader Crystal Lake South, grabbing control at the service line and keeping the Gators out of their normal offensive rhythm.

Huntley tallied seven aces in the first set, South struggled mightily with six serving errors on its end, and the Gators looked in danger of losing for the first time this season and falling into a first-place tie with the Red Raiders.

But the Gators, just as they did in their previous match against Prairie Ridge, fought back and picked each other up after a tough first set to earn a come-from-behind, 16-25, 25-22, 25-21 victory over the Raiders.

[ Photos: Crystal Lake South vs. Huntley volleyball ]

The win kept South’s perfect season intact and increased its FVC lead over Huntley to two matches in the loss column. Jacobs also is two back.

“We were tipping to the middle of the court, and they could not pick up a tip,” Huntley coach Karen Naymola said of the Raiders’ first-set attack. “If they did, they sent it over as a free ball, and we could run our offense.

“Game 2, we went away from it, [South] made an adjustment, and I think we tried too hard to do too much offensively instead of running our offense and swinging away. [South] served really aggressive in [sets 2 and 3], and we just couldn’t pass tonight.”

The victory was the third in the past four matches in which the Gators (9-0, 9-0 FVC) had to win the last two sets after losing the first.

South doesn’t seem to mind how it gets the job done.

“We have a lot of willpower, and we have a lot of fight in us, and I think that’s what we showed on the court tonight,” senior libero Alyssa Zagroba said. “We just feed off of each other, and we constantly work off of each other. We have to literally pick each other up off the court when we fall, and that’s what I think keeps us going.”

“We always find a way to come back, which is really special about the team,” sophomore Morgan Jones added. “In the second set, we started to really show who we are.”

Senior outside hitter Jessie Proszenyak led South with eight kills, four aces and nine digs, Jones had six kills, seven digs and two aces, and Mia Regillio had a team-leading five blocks. Zagroba had 14 digs, Gabby Wire and Morgan Langdon had three kills apiece, Faith Gruenwald had 19 assists, and Kaitlyn Brandt had five digs.

South never trailed in the second set but had to work its way back from a 5-1 deficit in the third. Proszenyak had five of her match-high eight kills in the third, giving the Gators a 24-19 lead on a kill and ace before the Raiders sent one wide to end the match.

“She doesn’t let the emotion affect her, or at least you don’t see it visibly,” South coach Jorie Fontana said of Proszenyak. “She’s powerful; she’s going to be your most aggressive player on the serving line; she’s always going to be attacking from the back row. But she mixes it up, she’s smart, she picks her spots, which are big momentum turners.

“She’s been able to showcase it all here in her senior year.”

Junior setter Maggie Duyos had 22 digs and 17 assists for Huntley (8-2, 7-2), Ally Panzloff and Georgia Watson had six kills each, and Miami commit Avary DeBlieck added five kills. Luma Acevedo had 26 digs and three aces, and Lauren Bauer had four aces and two blocks.

After an impressive first set, the Raiders struggled in the second and third.

“To be honest, we couldn’t get a ball up to Maggie,” Naymola said. “She was running all over the court trying to put up an offense. Avary didn’t get set much at all because we couldn’t run her. She’s a go-to player for us, and we’ve got to get her the ball.”

Proszenyak said the Gators will look to start their next match like they ended Tuesday’s.

“The second and third sets, it just got electric on the court, and we started to pick up on everyone’s energy and just going after everything,” Proszenyak said. “We’re gonna keep working on that and just keep getting better.”