Volleyball bounces back to 2-1 in FVC

HUNTLEY — The Huntley volleyball squad was back on its winning ways in the Fox Valley Conference, with shutout wins against McHenry and Jacobs.

The Red Raiders trounced Jacobs, 25-9. 25-15 Sept. 3 following a win over McHenry, 25-19, 25-17 Aug. 29 for a 3-1, 2-1 FVC record.

Against Jacobs, Huntley outside hitter and University of Kentucky commit Georgia Watson led with 10 kills, had two digs and added two service aces.

“We worked on serving for an hour at practice,” Watson said.

Junior Abby Whitehouse set the pace for the offense with 12 assists. Last season’s assist leader is in that same role early this year.

Against the Golden Eagles, Whitehouse was helped in that assists as  Emily Ernst contributed six assists and Alex Goritz had one. Against McHenry, Whitehouse led with six assists while Catherine Hein had five and Ernst pitched in three.

“We have a good connection between the front row and setters, it’s fun to see,” Huntley coach Karen Naymola said.

“Watson makes my assists look good,” Whitehouse added.

“I thought they came out with intensity in pre-game warm-ups, but we were able to match that intensity,” Naymola said after the win over Jacobs.

The offense also included Diellza Sejdini’s four kills (also three digs on defense) and two aces while Goritz added three aces and Julia Lesniak had three kills.

Earlier HHS experienced a mix of results in the first week of the season. It began, though, with a 19-25, 24-26 loss to Crystal Lake Central in the FVC opener.

“We’re still mixing it up with our rotation. Against McHenry, we did a much better job in the second set to make a run,” Naymola said.

Watson had three strong matches in kills with 16 against the Tigers and nine against McHenry. She did it all against the Warriors with six digs and six aces as well. “Watson can just do it all. We rely on her, but I always remember her effort in the super-sectional match,” Naymola said, referring to the loss to Barrington in 2022.

“It’s a huge year for me, as a senior leader,” Watson said.

Against the Tigers, Huntley’s contributions included eight digs by Goritz. Whitehouse had six assists and two digs. Sejdini pitched in four kills and two digs. Hein had five assists, one dig and two aces. Rodriquez had strong matches as defensive specialist, including 11 digs against CLC.

Season opener

HHS shutout Lakes, 2-0, to begin the season with a home victory. The Red Raiders had several weapons which led to a 25-18, 25-14 triumph.

“The team looked good. A little bit of nerves, and learning our new rotations, but after we settled in we looked composed and did a great job running the offense,” Naymola commented.

At the net, Watson led with six kills while Sejdini had four kills and two blocks. Jocelyn Erling contributed three kills and three blocks. Sienna Robertson had two kills and one block.

The offense was set up by nine assists from Abby Whitehouse (also two digs) and Emily Ernst had seven assists. On defense Goritz reached double digits in digs with 10.