PALATINE, Ill. – The Harper College volleyball team finished second at their own tournament on Saturday , winning their first 3 matches of the Harper College Invitational before falling to Lincoln Land in their final contest.
The team started a little slow on the tournament's first day, Friday, as Black Hawk won the first game from the Hawks. But Harper responded by winning the next 3 games (21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-9). Sarah House (Crystal Lake, Ill., Crystal Lake South) had 15 kills and Lauren LaMasse (Hoffman Estates, Ill., Hoffman Estates) had 14 kills to lead Harper on attack while Andraia Leja (Crystal Lake, Ill., Prairie Ridge) contributed 20 digs. Clara Moravec (Lake in the Hills, Ill., Jacobs) was excellent around the net, picking up 6 blocks.
“We probably learned our lesson that we need to warm up better before the match starts because we obviously got better in games 2, 3 and 4,” said head coach Bob Vilsoet. “We also made some adjustments that worked against Blackhawk. We figured out what was working for them and we were able to slow them down more.”
Harper rode that momentum into it's second game of the day, sweeping Marshalltown in 3 closely contested games (29-27, 25-20, 25-22). Liz Dotson (Palatine, Ill., Fremd) delivered an outstanding performance in the middle, registering 11 kills on 17-of-18 hitting. Megan Kollmeyer (Tustin, Mich., Pine River) led 3 Hawks in double-figures for digs and Alyssa Cazzato (Bartlett, Ill., Bartlett) and Kelly Sommers (Arlington Heights, Ill., Buffalo Grove) took turns directing Harper's offense with 21 and 10 assists, respectively. The win bumped the team's record in the tournament to 2-0, meaning the Hawks won their pool and would move on to the Gold Pool.
“We put Marshalltown in our pool in the first place because they are a strong team,” Vilsoet said. “Only strong teams travel a long way for tournaments. We were consistent and relatively error-free. Marshalltown made a couple extra mistakes that we didn't make.”
In their first game on Saturday, Harper defeated Blackhawk East (25-17, 25-18, 25-18). LaMasse and House combined for 27 kills in the sweep while Leja tallied 20 digs and Cazzato had 14 assists.
“They are a much-improved team but our starting lineup overmatched them,” Vilsoet said.
The Hawks lost a hard-fought match to Lincoln Land 3-1 (26-28, 25-23, 23-25, 27-29). Bolawa Gbadebo (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Thornwood/Hoffman Estates) (Hoffman Estates, Ill., Thornwood/Hoffman Estates) stepped in and had five kills while House had 18, LaMasse had 17 and Dotson had 11. Cazzato, Leja, House, Kollmeyer and Sam Wallenberg (Elk Grove, Ill., St. Viator) all eclipsed double-digit digs while Cazzato dished out an eye-popping 54 assists.
“We played well against a very strong team,” Vilsoet said. “Sierra Gilmore (Fayetteville, NC, Cape Fear) and Bolawa did well. I see glimmers of excellence there that with additional time and work, they are going to be something to be reckoned with. We're still going to be a strong team.”
For their efforts, Cazzato and Dotson were voted onto the All-Tournament team. Cazzato totaled 131 assists and Dotson finished with 31 kills in the four matches of the tournament.
After playing five matches in three days, the team gets a few days of rest before returning to the court on Tuesday night at Joliet. The match is scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM.
