Wolves survive scare against Gators

Prairie Ridge’s Mackenzi Humm (center) and Taylor Onoyan (right) block a ball from Crystal Lake South’s Carly Nolan on Tuesday in their IHSA Class 4A Grant Regional semifinal in Fox Lake. The Wolves won, 21-25, 25-17, 25-19, to advance to the regional final. (Daniel J. Murphy - dmurphy@shawmedia.com)

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FOX LAKE – The Prairie Ridge volleyball team nearly learned the hard way Tuesday that underestimating a Fox Valley Conference foe can end your season early.

Third-seeded Crystal Lake South took advantage of a Wolves squad that opened the IHSA Class 4A Grant Regional semifinal match less than focused, with the Gators grabbing a 25-21 first-set win that left No. 2 Prairie Ridge a game away from elimination.

“We had beaten them two times before and some of us came into it and thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be easy,’ ”
the Wolves’ Mackenzi Humm said. “But I knew we were going to have to fight for it because they weren’t going to let us have it that easily.”

The Wolves played smarter in the second and third games and maintained an aggressive serve that tested the Gators. Two nearly identical runaway stretches – an eight-point and seven-point run – in the final two games gave Prairie Ridge the needed breathing room for a 21-25, 25-17, 25-19 win.

The Wolves play No. 1 Cary-Grove in the Grant Regional final at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Trojans beat McHenry, 25-12, 25-11, in the other regional semifinal Tuesday.

“We’re still struggling on ‘D’,” Wolves coach Stefanie Otto said. “We’re not getting in the right positions to make better plays and still backing up on ‘D,’ so we [have] to still try and get that mindset for them.”

The offense provided by Humm and Caitlin Brauneis offset some of Prairie Ridge’s defensive miscues, especially in the final two sets. Brauneis’ game-high 12 kills led Prairie Ridge (18-18) while Humm added 10 along with 17 assists and 12 digs.

Despite the season-ending loss, South coach Jorie Fontana was proud of her team’s effort and energy to finish the year on a high note.

Nicole Slimko (seven kills) is one player whom the Gators (13-22) expect to build with next season, Fontana said.

“To me, this team was truly a team that loved volleyball,” Fontana said. “At the end of the day, whether we were winning or losing and you were to question them why are you here, they would say because they love the game. And that was something special.”

After regrouping for the win, the Wolves must play the Trojans for a fourth time this year having lost the previous three matchups.

Cary-Grove 2, McHenry 0: C-G (32-4) never let No. 4 McHenry (14-22) build momentum, and the production from outside hitter Melanie Jereb (seven kills) fueled the offense with sophomore setter Megan Seymour at the helm.

“Whenever you start the state tournament, you never know how the pressure of that is going to affect the team,” Trojans coach Patty Langanis said. “Those first match jitters we did a good job of dealing with.”

Starting setter Jess Bartczyszyn (broken nose) still needs clearance from her doctor before returning, though Langanis hopes Bartczyszyn can practice today.

Unforced errors helped spoil the Warriors’ upset bid. Senior Sam Magnussen posted five kills in her final match.

“We knew were going to have to put some pressure on [C-G] if we wanted to win,” McHenry coach Jeff Brunstrum said. “We just couldn’t hit the shots we needed to hit tonight.”