GLEN ELLYN, Ill. – The #4 Harper College volleyball team swept the College of DuPage (25-20, 25-20, 25-11) and in doing so earned a share of the N4C crown along with #2 Rock Valley and #6 Madison College. The Hawks have now won five N4C championships in head coach
Bob Vilsoet's 11 years, including three times that they have shared the title.
“Everyone was able to play tonight, and some of us in different positions than normal, which turned out to be a lot of fun,” Vilsoet said. “There were a lot of smiles on the court tonight. As for the execution, well, we did better in the 3
rd game.”
Harper (30-11, 10-2 N4C) hit two shots out-of-bounds to open the match, prompting an early timeout, but rebounded to go ahead 14-12 and eventually win 25-20.
Madison Rodriguez (Palatine, Ill., Palatine) and
Sarah House (Crystal Lake, Ill., Crystal Lake South) had three kills apiece while
Veronica Dabrowski (Des Plaines, Ill., Rolling Meadows) had two kills and seven digs.
Erinn Hellweg (Wauconda, Ill., Wauconda) came on strong in the second set with five kills while
Kelly Sommers (Arlington Heights, Ill., Buffalo Grove) set a balanced offense with five players registering two or more kills. The Hawks led the second set throughout with leads at 10-4, 17-14 and 23-16 before winning 25-20. Harper dominated the final set, breaking away from a 4-4 tie to go up 21-9 before winning 25-11.
Hellweg finished with eight kills and four aces while House and Dabrowski had five kills each.
Clara Moravec (Lake in the Hills, Ill., Jacobs) and
Rebekah Hischke (Algonquin, Ill., Dundee Crown) combined for four of the team's six blocks. Dabrowski and House led the way on defense with 11 digs. Sommers tallied 20 assists in her two sets of work.
The Hawks play this weekend at the Kishwaukee Tournament, starting with matches on Thursday against #7 Owens College (Div II.) and Black Hawk College.
The Region IV Tournament begins Oct. 24 at 6:00 PM. The Hawks will have a first round home game and the final two rounds will be at Rock Valley on Oct. 27.
