Volleyball: Maizy Agnello’s big night lifts Prairie Ridge past Crystal Lake South

CRYSTAL LAKE – Prairie Ridge sophomore middle blocker Maizy Agnello is going to be a handful for opposing teams to deal with this season.

During the Wolves’ 25-17, 25-15 Fox Valley Conference win over crosstown rival Crystal Lake South on Thursday, she also was a human highlight reel.

Agnello notched a match-best 11 kills, including one during the opening set that put the Wolves (3-1, 2-0 FVC) ahead 14-11, forcing a Gators timeout.

On the play, she elevated so far above the net for a spike, the large crowd in attendance let out an audible gasp.

And boy, were she and her teammates fired up about it, jumping, shouting and pounding their feet as they proceeded to take 11 of the next 17 points.

“I have really good genetics,” Agnello said. “My mom was on Penn State University’s first national title team in 1999. And my dad [Carlo] is 6-foot-4. So that definitely all helps.

“But me and my teammates all put in a lot of hard work – not just now, but during the offseason, as well.”

Her mother, Hilary Agnello, also happens to be the Wolves’ first-year coach, taking the reins from Stefanie Otto, who retired after 27 seasons.

Otto, who won 726 career matches, was inducted into the Illinois Prep Volleyball Hall of Fame this summer, leaving Hilary Agnello with big shoes to fill.

She certainly had no problem doing so Thursday, as junior Abby Smith contributed seven kills, sophomore Tegan Vrbancic had five digs, and senior Grace Jansen ripped three aces for Prairie Ridge in the winning effort.

“I want our identity to be our aggression,” Hilary Agnello said. “I want us to be aggressive, and if we make mistakes, we make mistakes. So what?

“As long as we learn from them, that’s all that matters. I’m not going to take someone out every time they mess up. The goal is to continually build our collective confidence and IQ.”

Along with that IQ comes a modest amount of team experience. The Wolves made it to a Class 3A sectional title match last season, only to lose in heartbreaking fashion in three sets against Belvidere North.

It’s something senior libero Alli Rogers hasn’t forgotten about, as she and her teammates hope to play with a chip on their shoulders.

Rogers had numerous breathtaking digs Thursday to keep rallies alive, sacrificing her body with face-first diving efforts multiple times.

“It’s crazy how much hustle plays like that can shift momentum,” Rogers said. “It’s just a mindset, wanting to win at all costs.”

To its credit, Crystal Lake South (1-2, 1-1 FVC) certainly didn’t make things easy on the Wolves. In fact, the Gators were as close as 17-15 during the first set and 14-11 in the second before Prairie Ridge ended the match on an 11-4 run.

“The thing I love about our team is even though we are young [two senior starters], we will run through a wall for the ball,” South coach Annie Moore said. “Our defense is our strength. And we certainly didn’t make their job easy, even though we lost the match.”

The Gators got a team-high 11 assists from junior setter Olivia Apt, nine digs from junior Laken LePage and four digs and three kills from sophomore Bobbi Wire.

At the net, senior Morgan Johnson showed off her experience with a team-high five kills, four coming on deceptive tips at the net.

“This is the type of loss we want to learn from,” Moore said. “This was a large, energetic crowd and a big crosstown rivalry. It’s important for us to experience matches like this early on so we know what areas we need to improve upon.

“We’re also a smaller team, so that created some matchup problems for us, too. But our speed and energy and hustle is going to help us win a lot of games.”

As for the Wolves, the question is simple.

What will their ceiling be with a large portion of last year’s sectional team back?

“Everything we do has purpose,” Hilary Agnello said. “Every drill, every seemingly small detail. One thing I learned during my time at Penn State was how important culture and preparation truly were.

“I want our players to have big goals and to dream big this year. We simply need to put in the work. We want to have fun, too. That’s also extremely important. But to take bigger steps, we have to earn that privilege.”