Volleyball: McHenry rallies to beat Crystal Lake South in 3-set thriller

CRYSTAL LAKE – McHenry’s girls volleyball team is no stranger to pressure-packed situations this season.

So when the Warriors staved off a pair of second-set match points against Fox Valley Conference rival Crystal Lake South on Tuesday evening, then rallied for a thrilling 17-25, 28-26, 25-15 victory, it was more of the same.

After dropping set one to the Gators, 25-17, McHenry built a a pair of large 13-4 and 23-16 leads in set two.

But the Gators scored eight of the next nine points, and just like that, it was 24-all.

That provoked a McHenry timeout. Warriors coach Alex Muschong knew her players wouldn’t panic, and she stayed calm in the ensuing huddle as well.

“The wild thing is, we’ve been in that 24-24 tie situation in five different matches already this year,” Muschong said. “So I told our players not to panic because we’ve been there before.

“I also told them to trust each other, and to simply make good passes. This is a team with a lot of seniors who believe in each other, and I definitely think their experience was a big factor in that moment.”

South (6-7, 2-5 FVC) scored the next points after McHenry’s timeout, then took another lead 26-25 thanks to Gators sophomore Bobbi Wire’s spike moments later.

But McHenry (8-4, 3-4 FVC) overcame Wire’s match-best 13 kills, scoring the final three points of the second set.

“Just a huge sense of relief and accomplishment not letting that scenario turn into a huge letdown,” Muschong said. “Credit to South for pushing back and fighting back as hard as they did.”

The Warriors then took control in the third and deciding set, which was 14-all at one point, by outscoring South 11-1 the rest of the way with a furious finish.

Senior Kylie Chojnowski had seven kills for McHenry, while teammates Sophie Zieba, Destiny Parsons and Kaylis Bonny had six kills each.

Warriors senior libero Ella Jenkins tallied 12 digs, while senior setter Riley Ten Bruin helped facilitate plenty of assists on McHenry’s 32 combined kills.

“Honestly, we need to try to avoid putting ourselves in the situation where we give up large leads like we did today,” Ten Bruin said. “It shouldn’t have ever gotten to that point.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s nerve-wracking, but it’s also fun. I feel like me and my teammates all have great chemistry, so continuing to overcome adversity repeatedly the way we have is a sign of growth and maturity. Hopefully, wins like this are a stepping stone to even bigger wins in the future. We have a lot of seniors, and our goal is to make this season one to remember.”

South senior Olivia Apt had a huge 23-assist match, in addition to 14 digs. Madelyn Cook had six digs, Kendall Brandt had three kills and Ellesse Sain posted three blocks for the Gators.

Her teammate, Morgan Johnson, finished with five kills and 11 digs and was a huge force near the net offensively and defensively.

“We had a ton of digs and plays where we kept the ball alive,” Gators coach Annie Moore said. “Our defense is definitely our strength.”

Conversely, she’s hoping to see more assertive play from her offense going forward.

“Honestly, I’m proud of the way we battled, particularly in that second set. We could’ve just packed it in and moved on to the third set, but we were relentless,” Moore said. “We want to see more of that for the entire match. And I think the stats bear that out. Bobbi had 13 kills, then the entire rest of our stat sheet has everyone else with 1, 2 or 3. We struggled getting the ball down. That was the difference.”

https://www.shawlocal.com/northwest-herald/2024/09/18/volleyball-mchenry-rallies-to-beat-crystal-lake-south-in-three-set-thriller/