10-25-2023 10:03am

Hononegah girls volleyball moves onto 2nd round in the 4A IHSA playoffs

Hononegah 2023 girls volleyball team after winning regionals

Update: The Lady Indians defeated Hampshire on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023 to capture the IHSA 4A Hononegah Regional Championship. Next they advance to the Sectional Semi-Final at Huntley High School on Mon., Oct. 30, where Hononegah plays Libertyville at 6 p.m.

Hononegah volleyball finished the regular season with a record of 25-10. So they received a 2 seed in the 4A Huntley IHSA Girls Volleyball Sectional.

They opened postseason play against Harlem on Tuesday night, Oct. 24, 2023. The match was not a close contest. Hononegah came out determined to not give Harlem any room for an upset. The Lady Indians opened the first game of the match with a 12-1 lead when a timeout came from Harlem. A short time later, Hononegah closed out the set, winning 25-7.

Hononegah scored the first point in the second set and were down 0-1 to Harlem. From that point on in the game, Hononegah seemed to know that they were the better team and served masterfully, gaining 8 of the next 9 points and went on a run of 19-3 before another timeout from Harlem.

Shortly later, Hononegah closed out the match with a 25-6 game 2 win and a 2-0 match sweep that moved them on to Round 2 of the 4A Huntley IHSA Girls Volleyball Sectional.

Speaking with Coach Kaylee Libby after the first-round victory, she made note of the excellent communication and excellent serving from her team. “We talk about our communication all the time, we want it to be purposeful, clear and concise. I feel we did a good job of that tonight.”

Next up for Hononegah is a 2nd round contest with Hampshire who defeated a very game and tough-minded Auburn Knights team 2-0. Coach Libby is very familiar with the Hampshire team, stating, “They are pretty big and pretty physical, they have quite a few underclassmen on their roster... I expect it to be a pretty good matchup.”

Hampshire comes from the Fox Valley Conference and has a record of 18-16. Just looking at the record, you might think it’s a walkover for Hononegah; however, Hampshire has a couple of nice victories on the season: over a 26-win Woodstock team and a 20-win Sycamore team.

All season long, the four seniors for the Hononegah Indians - Haylee Lundberg, Anna Ptacin, Alyssa Mohney, and Emily Auestad - have led this team with their actions on and off the court.

In their four varsity seasons, this senior class has been a part of 100 wins, with 7 of those wins coming in the playoffs and 58 of the wins coming in NIC-10 play. In the last 2 NIC-10 seasons they are an amazing 34-2, losing only to Belvidere North this season.

The last two seasons have seen the Hononegah Indians girls volleyball season end with a match with Huntley. It will be an interesting postseason for the 2023-2024 Hononegah Indians girls volleyball team as they have set quite a high bar for themselves.

The 2nd round matchup with Hampshire is set for the Hononegah Fieldhouse on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023 at 6 p.m.

See the complete 2023 4A bracket.

Thank you goes out to Coach Kaylee Libby and her staff for the information and making themselves available to me for the story.

Image provided by Hononegah High School.