Box Score
JOLIET, Ill.- The #4 Harper College volleyball team won the first two sets and had to hold off a furious rally from Joliet Junior College to win 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 20-25, 15-9). The win helped the Hawks keep pace with #2 Rock Valley College for first place in the conference.
“After winning the first two, I was hoping that we would win the third and go home,” said head coach
Bob Vilsoet. “Obviously, Joliet had other ideas. They played very well, fighting for every point. Joliet got stronger in this match as they gained more confidence in front of their home crowd in this small but loud gym. It was a very fun match to watch. Fortunately, a win is a win.”
Harper (24-6, 7-1 N4C) started fast with leads of 7-2 and 10-4 in the first set, eventually extending the advantage to 17-9. Joliet closed the gap to 21-16, but the Hawks prevailed 25-20.
Kelly Sommers (Arlington Heights, Ill., Buffalo Grove) directed a balanced attack as
Sarah House (Crystal Lake, Ill., Crystal Lake South),
Alyse Kolner (Crystal Lake, Ill., Marion Central),
Veronica Dabrowski (Des Plaines, Ill., Rolling Meadows) and
Clara Moravec (Lake in the Hills, Ill., Jacobs) all tallied at least two kills. The Hawks fell behind in the second set 5-2 but rallied to even the score at 6-6. There were additional ties at 10-10, 11-11 and 13-13 before the Wolves pulled ahead for a 20-16 lead. Some nice serving from Moravec gave Harper three straight points and the team eventually tied the score at 23-23, before winning 25-23.
The next two sets were more of a challenge for Harper as Joliet turned a 15-15 tie into a 25-18 win to extend the match. And the Wolves rode a strong defensive effort in the fourth set to force a fifth set.
The Hawks had just seven kills in the fifth set as House and
Stephanie Igielski (Streamwood, Ill., St. Edwards) each had two kills. Playing in the back row,
Sam Wallenberg (Elk Grove, Ill., St. Viator)shined with back-row attacks, including a crucial kill to the right side late in the match. Kolner also had another time hard-hit kill on the right side. It was another tight set with ties at 1-1, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8 and 9-9. Harper closed out the match by winning the final six points behind the serving of Sommers.
Harper had four players earn double-doubles in the match. Sommers finished with 50 assists and 22 digs, House tallied 12 kills and 16 digs, Moravec contributed 11 kills and 11 digs while Dabrowski notched 13 kills and 13 digs.
Megan Kollmeyer (Tustin, Mich., Pine River) added 17 digs and
Kelly Spychala (Des Plaines, Ill., Elk Grove) finished with 11 digs.
Up next is a crucial match on Thursday at Rock Valley, who beat Harper 3-1 (25-23, 17-25, 17-25, 22-25) on Sept. 20. First serve is slated for 6:00 PM.
