February 12, 2025
Girls Volleyball

McHenry County College volleyball qualifies for nationals

By DAN BERG
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McHenry County College volleyball is headed to nationals in Phoenix aftet two convincing wins on Saturday at College of Lake County. (Dan Berg)

GRAYSLAKE – Head coach Kyle McCall was a little nervous about playing Waubonsee Community College (24-14) for a third time on Saturday.

McHenry County College (37-7) had beaten the Chiefs in two hard fought matches earlier this season and McCall was hoping “3” was really the charm. The Scots delivered with a 25-20, 25-16 and 25-21 win to advance to the noon finals, where they beat Sauk Valley 25-16, 25-6, 25-19.

The win qualified MCC for the NJCAA Division II National Championships, one of 16 teams that will play from Nov. 19-21 at Phoenix College in Arizona.

MCC started out a little shaky against WCC but steadied the ship behind outside hitter Maddy Cysewski (11 kills, 3 blocks, 4 aces), setter Zoe Lindsey (27 assists, 8 digs) and libero Britney Adams. The Scots also enjoyed the timely serving of libero Sarah Adams (Britney’s younger sister) and the overall gritty play of OH Abby Marchewka to sweep the Chiefs and move on the finals.

In the finals, Sauk Valley CC (31-8) started the first set well and were only down 12-10 but the Scots ran away to a 25-16 win. The 2nd set was never close as MCC won 25-6. The 3rd set was SVCC’s most competitive set as they tied it up at 19. The Scots then took the next 6 points to win the set 25-19 and sweep the finals (3-0) and start thinking about Phoenix.

MCC was led by Cysewski (10 kills, 4 blocks, 4 aces), Lindsey (31 assists, 4 kills) and middle back Kayli Trausch (8 kills, 3 blocks). The Scots also had great all around performances from Britney Adams, OH Peyton Velasquez and OH Brittney Gundlach.

“It’s not about me, I didn’t do anything.” McCall said. “We prepare every day to come and play like we did today. The kids played awesome.”

“It feels amazing," Trausch said. "It’s what we have been working on the whole time and we accomplished it.”

The Scots dedicated their season to late teammate Amanda Williams, who died when her car slid into a Metra train on icy roads in Woodstock in February.

“We play every game thinking about Amanda," Trausch said. "Trying to play our hearts (out) for her.”

In Amanda’s absence, a teddy bear sits on the bench wearing a shirt adorned with her name and messages from her teammates.