Joliet Catholic’s Riley Hungate got interested in volleyball at a young age thanks to a balloon game she and her family played.
Who knew that her parents, Rick and Lorie, and brother Jack would help turn her into a standout because of it?
“It sounds silly, but we inflated a balloon and just tried to keep it off the floor,” she said. “We dove around to keep it in the air. I liked that so much.
“It was just like playing volleyball. I started playing when I was in fifth grade. I’ve been in love with it ever since.”
The senior outside hitter helped her team’s confidence balloon Wednesday night with a 25-8, 25-18 victory over Marian Catholic in the Class 3A Hinsdale South Sectional final.
The Culver-Stockton recruit recorded five kills and a team-high 11 digs to spark the Angels (25-13) to a 6 p.m. Friday match in the Joliet Catholic Supersectional against Metamora (37-1), which beat Washington 25-16, 25-16 at Dunlap.
The Angels lost 25-16, 23-25, 25-20 to Marian on Sept. 14, but this time around, they outscored the Spartans 19-2 to close out the first game and 12-7 to close out the second.
The ability to win convincingly the second time around against Marian (19-16), which at one point had a 13-15 record, has the Angels feeling good.
“Honestly, I’m surprised at the score,” Hungate said. “I expected it to be much closer, but we came out with so much energy and so much drive and we got a jump on them.
“We had higher expectations for this match. We knew we lost to them before and it motivated us to work harder and prove we could beat them. It just happened to be for a sectional title.”
Senior outside Crystal Galaviz, a Georgia State commit, and junior middle Ava Neushwander each had six kills. Lillian Ray added 13 assists and Samantha Horn had 11.
“We talked about the first time we played them,” Joliet Catholic coach Kisha Cameron said. “It was a flat time for us, and we watched the film. We strategized on ball control and making sure everyone was an option and not just Crystal.”
It’s the 15th sectional title in program history for Joliet Catholic and third in a row.
Sara Johnson, a Radford recruit, led the Spartans in defeat with six kills. She finished with 384 for the season.
“We played great the first time we played them,” Marian coach Rich Panitch said. “They probably weren’t ready for us. But they were ready for us this time around.
“They played really well. I think we came as far as we could go.”
Metamora makes the long trip Friday to Joliet for the right to go to state.
The Redbirds had a 43-match winning streak that started in the spring end on Oct. 9 against Pleasant Plains. They beat Washington for the fourth time this season to get to the Elite Eight.
The Angels are not worried about Metamora’s monster record, especially playing a loaded schedule that includes traditional 4A powers Mother McAuley, Marist and Benet.
“Playing tough competition has made us a lot better,” Ray said. “I don’t think it’s going to scare us at all. We know we prepared ourselves in the best way possible.”
And playing at home in such an important match doesn’t hurt.
“I love it … I love it,” Ray said. “That was another motivation for winning this match. We knew we got to play on our home court one more time in front of our fans. That’s awesome.”
Jeff Vorva is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.