Trojans claim regional crown

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FOX LAKE – It was fitting that middle blocker Ashley Rosch was left holding the plaque after Cary-Grove’s girls volleyball team clinched its third consecutive regional title Thursday.

“They just kind of gave it to me,” Rosch said after the Trojans’ 25-18, 25-17 win against Prairie Ridge in the IHSA Class 4A Grant Regional.

It might have had something to do with Rosch’s team-leading six blocks and nine kills, along with her knack for making plays when her teammates needed her most.

Rosch’s presence in the frontcourt, combined with some heavy serves from Melanie Jereb (eight kills, 10 digs, two aces) and Korey Kronforst (two aces), helped the Trojans (33-4) power past Prairie Ridge (18-19) for the fourth time this season.

In the third meeting between the two Fox Valley Conference Valley Division rivals, the Wolves won the first game of the match before C-G regrouped to win.

Ahead of the fourth matchup, Trojans’ coach Patty Langanis said she wanted her team to take no chances.

“[Prairie Ridge] put up some big battles there and put up some nice runs on us,” Langanis said. “I was proud of our girls, they kept their composure and they stayed in the game.”

The Wolves got seven kills from outside hitter Caitlin Brauneis and 11 digs and 13 assists from setter Mackenzi Humm, but they were plagued by momentum-killing errors.

The Wolves’ only lead came at the start of the second game, when they led by as much as 8-3 before C-G scored 15 of the next 17 points to grab the lead for good.

“As an overall season, we got better,” Wolves coach Stephanie Otto said, “but we still create a lot of errors on our own that take us out of our matches. You can’t just keep making hitting errors and digging errors and blocking errors, stuff like that.”

The Wolves kept a lid on the Trojans early in the match, but couldn’t keep it up.

After a Prairie Ridge hitting error made it 16-12 C-G, Jereb served the next four points for the Trojans, including one of her two aces. Rosch added a block and kill on the run and soon it was 20-12.

“[Jereb’s] jump serve, she gets up so high in the air that it’s pretty much like a frontcourt attack if she can make good contact,” Langanis said. “So she got some nice runs.”

Jereb’s second ace of the night came in the difference-making run in the second game. Rosch had a kill to give the Trojans the serve, then had a couple of blocks and a kill on a six-point run that turned a 10-9 deficit into a 15-10 C-G lead.

The Trojans were helped along by a few more Prairie Ridge errors, including one that ended the match after a nice dig by Jereb.

Next up is the Prairie Ridge Sectional, where a familiar foe – the DeKalb Barbs – will be waiting in the semifinals.

“We’re going to work as hard as we can in practice and just try to keep improving as much as we can,” Jereb said.