MADISON, Wis. – In a much anticipated showdown, the Harper College volleyball team brought their best to Wisconsin and left with a 4-game victory (25-17, 23-25, 25-12, 25-14) over Madison College (13-5) on Thursday night.  The win was the Hawks' fourth straight and also avenged an earlier loss to the WolfPack, who entered the game ranked sixth in the NJCAA poll.

Harper (17-5, 5-1 N4C) used a balanced attack as the team boasted 3 players in double digit kills and 5 players with at least 8 digs.  Lauren LaMasse (Hoffman Estates, Ill., Hoffman Estates) (11 kills), Sarah House (Crystal Lake, Ill., Crystal Lake South) (10 kills), Clara Moravec (Lake in the Hills, Ill., Jacobs) (10 kills), Stephanie Igielski (Streamwood, Ill., St. Edwards) (7 kills) and Liz Dotson (Palatine, Ill., Fremd) (5 kills) all had outstanding nights on the attack for the Hawks.

The team also played exceptional defense, led by Andraia Leja (Crystal Lake, Ill., Prairie Ridge) (16 Digs), House (13 Digs), Megan Kollmeyer (Tustin, Mich., Pine River) (12 Digs), Alyssa Cazzato (Bartlett, Ill., Bartlett) (10 Digs) and Moravec (8 Digs).  Cazzato (39 assists) and House both had double-doubles.

"The girls played with a real swagger," said head coach Bob Vilsoet.  "They wanted to win, they expected to win and they earned it. The bottom line is that I'm real proud of them."

Harper must recover quickly as they host the Harper College Invitational this weekend.  The Hawks will play 2 matches on Friday, the first being at 3:00 PM against Black Hawk College and the second starting at 5:00 PM against Marshalltown (IA).  Harper will have their work cut out for them with 2 difficult opponents to start the tournament.

"Marshalltown is an excellent team," Vilsoet said.  "They are traveling a long way, and teams don't travel far for tournaments unless they are talented.  Black Hawk College has previously defeated NJCAA #9 ranked Rock Valley two times already this year."