Crystal Lake South Sweeps Rival, Advances to Sectional Semifinal

Crystal Lake South won its second regional volleyball title in three years Thursday, topping crosstown rival Crystal Lake Central 25-23, 28-26 in the Class 3A Woodstock North Regional final in Woodstock. The Gators improve to 24-11 and move on to face Kaneland in a Crystal Lake Sectional semifinal set for 7 p.m. Tuesday.

South, seeded second, held off a third-seeded Central team that erased a 24-21 deficit in the second set. Trailing 24-21, the Tigers got kills from sophomores Katie Piech and Haley Busse to pull within 24-23, and senior Maya Case tied the set at 24. Central then had set point at 25-24 and 26-25 but could not close it out.

Senior outside hitter Bobbi Wire tied the set at 25 with a kill past the block of Case and Busse, then served the final two points. Wire finished with five kills and eight digs. Junior Sahara Okirika and senior Logan Georgy each recorded one of the final two points, with Georgy's back-row kill from a Peyton Ziegler set ending the match. Ziegler had 22 assists and two aces.

The Gators have not won a sectional title since 2017. South went 3-0 against Central this season. "We were able to stay calm in the moments where it was very chaotic," Wire said. "Central deserved to be here, and we deserved to be here. At the end of the day we wanted it more, and we just pushed through."

For Central, the season ended at 15-21 after a 0-9 start. Coach Amy Johnson said the team started five sophomores at times during the year. "Starting 0-9 was quite the gut check for them," Johnson said. "Not only with the youth that we have, at times starting five sophomores on the floor, but picking up the pieces from the start and then just every single day getting better and better."

Johnson's team finished with 10 aces and four service errors. Jordyn Johnson and Busse each had four kills. Piech added two kills, three blocks, eight digs and six assists. Reilly McArdle had seven digs, while Sophie Hartz, Lily Freese and Lauryn Smyth each served two aces. "We've been the underdog all season," Amy Johnson said. "They always believed and never believed it was over."

For South, Georgy led with nine kills and seven digs. Okirika had seven kills and two blocks, four of those kills and both blocks coming in the first set. Addison recorded nine digs, Joanna Kruzolek had six digs and three kills, and Makayla Westermann added two blocks. Kaneland advanced to the sectional semifinal by beating top-seeded Sterling 25-22, 19-25, 25-19 in the Plano Regional title match.