PALATINE, Ill. – Despite being tied at 24-24 in games 2 and 3, the #9 Harper College volleyball team was unable to close out either game, ultimately leading to a 3-0 (17-25, 24-26, 25-27) defeat at the hands of Rock Valley College (29-18).  The loss ends the team's season in the Region IV semifinals. The 35 victories is the third most in head coach Bob Vilsoet's 10-year tenure at Harper.
 
“Maybe there was a case of nerves,” Vilsoet said.  “That's probably a lot of it.  We didn't lose by a lot so any of those games was a play or two from completely changing the outcome.  We got better in each game.  If we win one of those games, maybe we win game four and game five.  It was close enough that all it was going to take was a point or two either way.  At the end of the day, we probably shot ourselves in the foot too many times with hitting the ball out or serving the ball into the net.  We didn't play as well as we have.”
 
In the first game, Harper (35-13) was unable to overcome a 7-1 deficit on their way to a 25-17 loss.  The Hawks trailed just 8-6 thanks to kills from Sarah House (Crystal Lake, Ill., Crystal Lake South) and Alyssa Cazzato (Bartlett, Ill., Bartlett) and an ace from Stephanie Igielski (Streamwood, Ill., St. Edwards) but were unable to get any closer the rest of the game.  Back-to-back kills from House and an ace from Cazzato made it 16-12 and Lauren LaMasse (Hoffman Estates, Ill., Hoffman Estates) got the Hawks to within 18-14 before the Golden Eagles went on a 4-0 run to put the game out of reach.
 
The second game started out much better for Harper.  The team raced to an early 8-4 lead behind 3 kills from House and 2 kills from Lindsey Pickle (Arlington Heights, Ill., Prospect).  Rock Valley rallied to pull within 9-8 before 2 kills from House gave the Hawks their biggest lead of the game at 14-10.  From there, the Golden Eagles went on a 10-1 run, eventually holding a commanding 23-19 lead.  But Harper refused to quit, as a block from Pickle, a kill from LaMasse, an ace from Megan Kollmeyer (Tustin, Mich., Pine River) drew Harper within a point.  A kill from LaMasse coupled with a Golden eagle hitting error tied the game at 24-24 but Rock Valley won the final 2 points to win 26-24.
 
Once again, the Hawks started out the third game well, taking an early 5-1 lead behind 3 kills from House, a House block and an Igielski kill.  Another kill from House put the team up 9-5 but the Golden Eagles showed their resiliency by tying the game at 12-12.  Harper seemed to be in control after Kollmeyer's ace put them up 18-15, but Rock Valley again pulled even at 20-20.  Things looked bleak for the Hawks as they trailed 24-21, facing match point, but the team put together one final run.  Harper capitalized on two Rock Valley errors and an ace from Cazzato evened things up at 24-24.  Pickle's kill temporarily gave the Hawks a 25-24 advantage before the Golden Eagles won 3 points in a row to win the game 27-25 and close out the match.
 
House led Harper with 14 kills while LaMasse added 10.  Andraia Leja (Crystal Lake, Ill., Prairie Ridge) finished with a team-best 12 digs, while Cazzato had 31 assists in her final match as a Hawk.
 
“I am very proud of the girls' season,” Vilsoet said.  “We can't overlook the fact that we were 35-13.  We beat a lot of very good teams playing a tough schedule.  It was like a dream team.  We had great players who had great attitudes.  I am very proud of the season that they had.  One unfortunate loss in a tournament like this should not cloud how well they played all year with how much effort they put in.  It's unfortunate that we lost this one match, and it's unfortunate that we don't get to play four more matches as a result.”
 
In earlier action, Madison (20-12) beat Joliet (31-8) 3-1 to advance to the championship.  In the day's final match Rock Valley swept Madison to move on to nationals, which will take place on November 11-12 in Rochester, Minnesota.