All in. All out.

Prairie Ridge didn’t play its cleanest volleyball in its sectional semifinal and didn’t have its best practice the next day.

Then came Thursday night. The Wolves were all in. And their all-out effort, exemplified best perhaps by libero Tegan Vrbancic’s head-first dive to deny a kill inches before it slammed off the court, helped the Wolves win a sectional championship for the second year in a row.

Adeline Grider had a match-best 12 kills, spiking the match winner just as she did Tuesday in her team’s semifinal, Addi Smith delivered 22 assists, and Prairie Ridge beat Carmel 25-12, 25-19 for the Class 3A Carmel Sectional championship Thursday in Mundelein.

“We actually did not have a very strong practice [Wednesday], so I was a little nervous about what today might look like, but they’re really, really tough kids,” Prairie Ridge coach Leah Groat said. “I think because they had to play tough in this gym Tuesday [three-set win over Grayslake Central], they felt very comfortable coming in here. I’m very proud of them.”

Prairie Ridge (31-7) advances to Monday’s 6:30 p.m. Streamwood Supersectional against St. Viator (32-7). Prairie Ridge, which finished third in Class 3A last year, beat Carmel in the Antioch Regional final last year.

Carmel (28-11) was playing in a sectional final for the first time since 2019.

“They’re a great team, even without Maizy,” Carmel coach David Pazely said of the Wolves, who’ve played the past three weeks without junior outside hitter and Missouri commit Maizy Agnello because of an ankle injury. “They were firing on all cylinders. I think the nerves got to our younger players a little bit. [Prairie Ridge’s players] were here last year. We didn’t have that experience. All of those little factors come into play.”

While Grider, Abby Smith (seven kills) and Ava Bell (four kills) led Prairie Ridge’s attack, Vrbancic paced the defense. Her diving dig – one of her 20 on the night – kept alive a first-set rally that Grider ended with a kill.

“You see ball, you go ball,” Vrbancic said.

“She’s just so scrappy,” Groat said of Vrbancic, the 5-foot-7 libero/defensive specialist. “She reads the ball so well. Even a ball that I’m late to react to, she’s already anticipated where it’s going to go. She’s so smart.”

Grider slammed seven kills in the opening set. Carmel jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but 10 unforced errors, including three missed serves, helped lead to the Corsairs’ demise. Sonora Bekere’s kill made the score 24-12, and then Grider served an ace to end it.

“I feel like we weren’t as focused [Wednesday in practice], but we definitely came into this [final] really wanting to win,” said Abby Smith, the senior lefty. “We did well last year, and we just really wanted to build off that this year.”

Prairie Ridge’s first-set contributors also included sophomore Lauren Bruce, whose six straight points from the serving line helped stretch the Wolves’ lead to 17-9. Carmel 6-2 freshman Liv Johnson ended the run with a running, cross-court kill.

“Lauren Bruce, she’s so good under pressure,” Abby Smith said. “She’s been performing awesome this whole year.”

Addi Smith faked a set and sent a no-look attack over the net for one of her three kills, putting the Wolves up 21-10 in the first set.

Suzy Trznadel, Carmel’s lone senior, provided a highlight for the Corsairs – two, actually. Her second ace of the match, early in the second set, was her 73rd of the season, tying the school mark set last season by then-senior libero Molly Mahlzan.

“I’ve been chasing it for the last few games,” Trznadel said. “I’ve been working really hard at practice every day just to get those two. ... I miss playing with [Mahlzan] so much. Being able to leave our impact on the program together is just special.”

Just like in the first set, Carmel grabbed a 3-0 lead in the second. But Prairie Ridge used a 5-0 run, four points coming with Abby Smith serving, to go up 15-8. The Corsairs cut their deficit to 18-14 before back-to-back unforced errors and got to within 21-17, but it was too late.

Grider’s winner had too much velocity for Carmel to return, as it banged off the overhead rafter and eventually hit the floor after the Corsairs tried to save it.

“A lot better [than Tuesday night],” Vrbancic said of her team’s performance. “Every game in the postseason, you know something is on the line, but that game against Grayslake Central [on Tuesday], we were a little bit slower. We weren’t clicking as much. But then this game, when we stepped on the court, you just felt it. There was a different feeling. Everyone wanted it. It was electric.”