Girls volleyball: Huntley tops Hononegah to capture 3rd straight sectional championship

MACHESNEY PARK – Huntley’s Morgan Jones timed her jump perfectly with teammate Emily Willis by her side and turned away Hononegah’s last effort Wednesday.

Jones’ third block of the match clinched a 25-23, 25-22 victory for the No. 2-seeded Red Raiders over No. 1 Hononegah, giving Huntley its third straight sectional title.

“It was a rush,” said Jones, a NCAA Division-I Indiana commit. “The emotions of tonight were just crazy. I’m so proud of us.”

Huntley (32-6) advances to face Barrington (38-1) in a Dundee-Crown Supersectional at 6 p.m. Friday, with the winner advancing to the state tournament.

Huntley coach Karen Naymola felt her team did a good job of avoiding distractions.

“There were a couple of times tonight where we struggled on serve receive, and they just fought their way through it,” Naymola said. “[Senior setter] Maggie [Duyos] made some great decisions on offense and our offense kept swinging away.

“We’ve had a rough week with some changes, and the fact that hasn’t slowed them down is so impressive.”

Huntley was playing its second match without senior middle blocker Avary DeBlieck, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the final moments of last week’s regional championship victory over Harlem.

Jones, who added eight kills to her three blocks, was moved from outside to right-side hitter as the Raiders made lineup adjustments without their 6-foot-3 middle.

Jones, a junior, hasn’t disappointed in filling whatever role the Raiders need.

“I think her block is one of the best in the area,” Naymola said. “Her armpits are over the net. That’s a tough block to get around. She does a good job of setting it, and our middles trust her.”

The Raiders received contributions at big moments from multiple players throughout the match.

Huntley came back from a 16-11 deficit in the opening set, which was later tied at 22 when sophomore Georgia Watson recorded back-to-back points on a kill and an ace to help win the set.

In the second set, Huntley trailed 20-19 but got two big points from junior Lizzy Williams, who evened the score at 20-20 and 21-21 on kills. Willis posted a key kill to give the Raiders a 24-22 advantage before Jones finished the match with her block.

Duyos, an Austin Peay commit, tallied 20 assists for Huntley, and libero Luma Acevedo had 13 digs. Ally Panzloff led the Raiders with nine kills and seven digs.

Sydney Kidd led Hononegah with seven kills, Lili Hagg had six, and Ember Gunnink (10 digs, two aces) added five. Molly Littlefield had 16 digs, and Courtney McWilliams had 17 assists.

Hononegah coach Kaylee Libby thought her team struggled to match up against Huntley, a team that has now eliminated the Indians in each of the past three postseasons.

“We knew they were a big offense, and we knew they had a big block,” Libby said. “We were going to have to pass well in order to move the ball around and create some good matchups on our side. Unfortunately, we had a few errors in the second set that hurt us, but [Huntley’s] offense and blocking is something that’s just really hard to match up against.”

Panzloff, a Brown commit, was proud of all her teammates for stepping up.

“In those tough moments, everyone was there to take an aggressive swing,” Panzloff said. “Everyone came out strong. No one, I felt, ever gave up.”

Now, the Raiders will see Barrington for the third time this season. The teams split their first two matches, with Barrington beating Huntley in the championship match of the Huntley Invite on Oct. 8.

The Raiders are excited for the challenge.

“We just need to go into supers like we went into both sectional [matches],” Acevedo said. “Super disciplined and super focused. I think if we execute our plan, we’ve got a really good shot.”