Notable Upsets from Week 5 of High School Volleyball

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two teams ranked among the top ten programs in the state were upset this week in great match-ups. Both teams went into their games undefeated on the season thus far, and although their flawless streak was cut short, that won't hold back their success for the rest of the season. Barrington and Huntley were the first to battle it out on Wednesday, and prior to the match-up Barrington sat comfortably with the higher ranking of 4th in Illinois, and Huntley was ranked 7th place. The following day, Marist hosted the nationally ranked, Mother McAuley which was a tough but exciting match. Here are some notable upsets that happened this week in the Chicagoland area:</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Huntley High School Defeats #4 ranked Barrington High School</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Huntley has been working their way up in the Illinois rankings since the beginning of the season. They saw a lot of success in their offense Wednesday night and credit is due to senior setter, [player_tooltip player_id='138664' first='Maggie' last='Duyos']. Maggie did a great job spreading the offense for her hitters and generating holes in Barrington's block. On the night she totaled 28 assists as well as contributing 3 kills herself. Ally Panzloff, a 6'1” senior outside hitter, led the offense by putting away 11 kills, but she didn't stop there. Panzloff, the Brown University commit, had a double-double against Barrington and led the team with her backcourt defense with 13 digs. [player_tooltip player_id='225754' first='Avary' last='DeBlieck'] and [player_tooltip player_id='207810' first='Georgia' last='Watson'] both contributed 8 kills a piece with Deblieck having a .384 hitting efficiency for the match. Watson however had a flawless hitting efficiency with no errors on her 13 attempts. Additionally, a younger player stepped up in the libero jersey for this match, as Huntley was missing their starting libero. Mari Rodriquez stepped in like she had held onto that role all season, and was ready for the challenge in the backcourt. She did a great job using her quick defensive movements to back dig quality balls for her team and offense to put the ball away.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Marist High School Defeats #1 ranked Mother McAuley High School</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Marist hosted the #1 ranked team in Illinois and nationally ranked Mother McAuley on Thursday, and they made sure to make it worth the watch. Marist started strong from the beginning of each set with a consistent offense that was run by sophomore setter, Maddie Berry, who finished the match with 20 assists. It was no surprise that Berry looked to find [player_tooltip player_id='138649' first='Kamryn' last='Chaney'], a senior outside hitter who finished the match by putting away 12 kills. With Chaney averaging 6 kills per set in her match against McAuley, she also produced as a frontcourt defender, as she finished with three blocks. [player_tooltip player_id='226010' first='Elise' last='Ward'], a senior was two digs shy of finishing with a double-double with her contribution of 10 kills and 8 digs in the match. With both Ward and Chaney producing at the efficiency they had, it established a strong foundation to lead to Marist's success and taking the win in only two sets. While Marist's offense along the net was a huge piece of the success Thursday, much of their efficiency would not have been possible without Elayna Davidson's relentless defense. Davidson finished the match with 18 digs, holding off the normally very effective offense coming from Mother McAuley's hitters. Marist and McAuley is always a fun rivalry to watch, but this match was special with it being the first win for Marist against McAuley since 2019, which consisted of four match-ups over the last two seasons. </p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->