Spikers play well in home battles

HUNTLEY — Huntley’s volleyball team  made it three wins in a row and added a road victory to make it seven wins in their first eight matches.

The Red Raiders were without their leader offensively, as senior Georgia Watson was injured before a match at Cary-Grove Sept. 17. Her teammates picked up the slack for Watson, who is a University of Kentucky commit. Huntley gained a 25-11, 25-18 triumph for a 7-1, 6-1 FVC mark and their sixth straight win.

“We have such a good group of talented athletes, who can play different positions, and have played together for years,” Huntley coach Karen Naymola said.

Senior Sienna Robertson picked up the front row duties, with seven kills, three blocks and added one dig. Senior Jocelyn Erling contributed four kills and two blocks. Senior Diellza Sejdini added three kills. Setters Abby Whitehouse and Emily Ernst got the offense going as each had  seven assists.

A look at other recent victories in FVC play:

Hampshire

On the night when head volleyball coach Karen Naymola was honored for her 500^th career win, Huntley outlasted rival Hsmpshire, 28-26, 25-13 Sept. 10.

Watson showed the way with 16 kills, and also had four digs and one block. Whitehouse and Ernst set up the offense with 14 and nine assists, respectively. Goritz had seven digs. Erling added two kills and three blocks.

The end of the first set was pushed past 25 points.

“We have a motto this year, that ‘it’s about family,” Naymola said after the win over the Whip-Purs. “It was intense. I was very proud of our team’s response. We work hard on what we can control. We did a great job of coming together.”

Alex Goritz is one of nine seniors on the squad, and was mentioned in the same breath as the leader of last year’s team. Against the Whip-Purs, she contributed seven digs and two serving aces.

“Goritz is like Morgan Jones was last year – she is calmness out there,” Naymola said, referring to Jones, the standout presently on the University of Missouri volleyball team.

“That’s a big honor and means a lot,” Goritz said.

Crystal Lake South

Whitehouse set up the offense with 12 assists and Ernst added eight.

Watson again led at the net with 16 kills and also had three digs and four aces. Sejdini contributed four kills.

“We played really well, defensively and offensively,” Naymola said. “CLS is a good, competitive team but I feel like we came out with a lot of energy and played very smart.”