Girls volleyball: Prairie Ridge rallies to beat Crystal Lake South in crosstown classic

CRYSTAL LAKE – Prairie Ridge coach Stefanie Otto saw plenty of fight from her team Wednesday despite a tough, three-set loss to St. Charles North.

On Thursday, the Wolves coach of 26-plus seasons was thrilled to see that fight on display one more time against a crosstown rival.

Prairie Ridge found itself one point away from dropping to 0-3 but staved off four match points in the second set and rallied to knock off visiting Crystal Lake South 24-26, 26-24, 25-22 in their Fox Valley Conference match.

“They want to win, you can tell,” Otto said. “It’s a lot of fun. They have the heart, and they never quit. I like that from this group.

“Slowly, we’re starting to see better decision making and fewer errors. I really liked how they fought and they made a lot of the adjustments we asked them to make. South passed amazing tonight. They were able to pick up a lot of what we threw at them.”

After losing the first set, Prairie Ridge (1-2, 1-1 FVC) trailed 24-20 in the second and appeared on its way to a third straight loss.

But key blocks from freshman outside hitter Maizy Agnello and senior middle blocker Ashley Stiefer, and a front-row kill from junior setter Grace Jansen to secure the set gave the Wolves momentum heading into the third.

“I think we all just started to realize how much we wanted it,” said senior outside hitter and captain Addison Gertz, who posted six kills. “We felt the energy from each other and were able to trust each other. That win was special. A lot of emotion in that game. It was crazy.”

Agnello, one of three freshman on the Wolves, came through with big swings and key points, leading the team with 12 kills and four blocks.

Prairie Ridge jumped out to a 7-2 advantage in the third set and led by as many as seven points, but the Gators battled back and cut the lead to 21-20. Agnello had a big kill to make it 22-20 and then posted her 12th and last kill to make it 24-22 before South misfired at the net to end the match.

“We were feeling fired up because we knew we could have won [the first two matches against Jacobs and St. Charles North],” Agnello said. “The intensity was great. I’m just really grateful that I have a great setter and teammates. We just wanted it so bad.”

Otto said all three freshmen, including Tegan Vrbancic (team-high 12 digs) and Adeline Grider, have not been intimidated by the varsity stage.

“They’re not afraid,” Otto said. “They get after it. They push everyone, and they’re vocal. I like that about all of them. And I like the aggressive play from Maizy. She wants to run everything fast and hit everything hard. It’s finding a balance of when to swing hard and when to finesse.”

Jansen added 28 assists and three aces for Prairie Ridge, Stiefer had seven kills and three blocks, and senior middle blocker Mackenzie Schmidt had four kills and three blocks.

South (2-1, 1-1) was led by senior outside hitter Gabby Wire with 13 kills, three aces, five digs and three blocks.

Senior setter Grace Meyer had 19 assists, junior outside hitter Morgan Johnson had five kills and 11 digs, and freshman outsider hitter Bobbi Wire posted five aces and five kills. Junior Olivia Apt added 10 assists, and freshman Logan Georgy had five blocks.

Coach Annie Moore said the Gators are searching for consistency. South started three freshmen and one sophomore Thursday.

“I’d say we’re very up and down,” Moore said. “You can tell that we’re young. We have some really great points, and then we get mentally weak. ... We’re focusing on what went well, what have we improved since that first game, and what can we work on in the future since they have so much to learn.

“A lot of moments to be proud of and a lot of things to look forward to.”