Stay Connected with YourSeason
Huntley staves off Jacobs’ upset bid
Updated: September 15, 2011 9:54PM
Huntley senior outside hitter Samantha Boesch has been through too much volleyball to let a couple of bad hits Thursday night rattle her, and the Red Raiders have been through too much as a team to let the red-hot serving of Jacobs’ Alyssa Ehrhardt get them down.
Huntley recovered from Jacobs’ upset bid to come away with a 25-16, 22-25, 25-19 homecourt victory in the Valley Division of the Fox Valley to stay unbeaten (11-0, 4-0).
“We still came out in adversity and did what we needed to do,” Huntley coach Michelle Jakubowski said.
The adversity started in warmups, when senior outside hitter Ashley Smith suffered a shoulder injury that sidelined her. So senior Emily McGran replaced her and came up with 14 kills while making big plays at exactly the right moment.
Her tip kill answered a Jacobs point for a 22-18 lead, and then her hit down the line provided the 25th point.
“What a great job by Emily playing for Ashley,” Jakubowski said. “She did everything we asked.”
But the key to the victory for Huntley was the hitting of Boesch, who produced 18 kills for the match, including a vicious spike off the back row that provided a 13-9 lead in the final set.
She had nine kills in the final set, including a tricky tip to stop Jacobs’ momentum after the Golden Eagles (10-6, 0-2) had scored two straight to get within 19-16.
When the second set ended, though, Boesch had provided the final four Jacobs points in succession with two long hits, a dump into the net and a net violation.
“It didn’t bother me,” Boesch said. “It’s just go up and put that next ball away. I have to believe in myself. Obviously I am confident.
“I want (setter) Eli (Regan) to keep tossing it up to me and I had to show I could put the next ball away and I tried to do that.”
Jacobs was able to take advantage in the second set because of the spectacular all-around play of Ehrhardt, a junior outside hitter. She strung together three consecutive aces to tie it at 19 and then provide a 21-19 lead — after serving consecutive aces earlier in the set.
She also had 15 kills on the night, ranging from the typical downed slam, to tips, to line shots.
“She’s worked on that,” Jacobs coach Lisa Dwyer said. “That’s one of her little signature moves, something she puts in her pocket and takes out once in a while.”
Jacobs hung tough with Huntley in the first set before two of Boesch’s kills sparked a 6-1 run that led to a 23-14 lead. But Jacobs, which had hung tough against powerful Cary-Grove earlier in the week, just got tougher in the second set.
“They’re scrappy girls,” Dwyer said. “They are out to prove a point and that is they are going to fight hard and are going to set a standard in this conference.”
Jacobs had 23 assists from setter Taylor Lauder and nine kills by Maris Smith.
Huntley’s Regan made 33 assists, while Amy Dion had 22 digs.
© 2012 Sun-Times Media, LLC. All rights reserved. This material may not be copied or distributed without permission. For more information about reprints and permissions, visit www.suntimesreprints.com. To order a reprint of this article, click here.
Cell Phone Alerts
Comments Click here to view or make a comment