Each member of the girls varsity volleyball team ran around the court and their names were called, followed by a roar of cheers that echoed from the crowd. The girls got into position for the first match just after a small group huddle. As McHenry served the first ball, Huntley went in quickly for the first point and set high morale for the rest of the game. 

On Tuesday, Sept. 28, the girls volleyball team went up against McHenry. Coming off of a couple of losses, the team knew that they had to come back stronger and work together. 

“Everybody played together as a family, and we had a good week mentally, composing ourselves from our losses and came back stronger,” senior Lauren Bauer said.

After their loss at the last game, the team came back stronger than ever and dominated McHenry with a 2-0 win. Huntley not only had the support of their teammates but the support of everyone who came out. Every point scored earned a loud roar from the crowd. 

“It feels really good winning, last week with 0-3 was not good. 0-3 is just not Huntley volleyball, so having this win feels really good,” junior Maggie Duyos said.  

After the first game ended in 25-16 in favor of Huntley, the team celebrated quickly and prepared for the second round. They held nothing back and won the second game with a whopping 25-10. 

“This win felt great. We needed a game like this where they came out, played aggressive, and played together. It was good to see them playing as well as they did tonight and as consistent as they played,” coach Karen Naymola said. 

This win gives the team a good start going into their conference and tournaments this week with their Prairie Ridge Conference on Thursday, Sept. 30, and their ASIC Challenge tournament starting Friday, Oct. 1. The ASIC Challenge is an invitational that has teams from all over the United States and is one of the hardest volleyball tournaments in the country. The team has been preparing for this tournament for weeks, and they are really excited to start competing.

The team has a crewmate of the game, and this game’s crewmate was Lauren Bauer as she delivered some amazing serves and was a great team player throughout the whole game. 

“I really worked hard this week and practiced after a rough week so it felt good to actually come out and play my hardest,” Bauer said. 

After a rough couple of weeks of losses and working really hard, the team had a well-deserved and outstanding win against McHenry. They now are headed to their conferences and tournaments with a win on their shoulders and a great team mentality.