Box Score

PALATINE, Ill. – The #4 Harper College volleyball team sent their sophomores out in style on Sophomore Night, posting a 3-0 victory (25-21, 25-17, 25-22) over #8 Madison College on Tuesday night.  The win also means that Harper (20-4, 6-1 N4C) keeps pace with #2 Rock Valley College for first place in the conference and knocks Madison back into third place.
 
“We had another very nice crowd tonight for Sophomore Night,” said head coach Bob Vilsoet.  “The sophomores all played and due to their experience, played very well.  It will be a nice memory for them to have played their last home weeknight match at Harper, having defeated a very talented and ranked Madison team in 3 straight sets.  I guess you could say it felt like a magical evening I hope we always remember.”
 
The Hawks were tied 6-6 but cut down on some mistakes that plagued them early on to pull ahead 12-8.  At 15-10, a controversial net call went against Harper, but the Hawks continued to press on at 17-13 behind the serving of Clara Moravec (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Jacobs).  The team took leads of 22-15 and 23-19 before closing it out 25-21.
 
Harper trailed in the second set early at 2-0 when Vilsoet called a timeout.  The Hawks quickly regrouped with four straight points and eventually pulled ahead at 14-5 and won 25-17.  Erinn Hellweg (Wauconda, Ill., Wauconda) had five of her team-leading 11 kills and Stephanie Igielski (Streamwood, Ill., St. Edwards) had three blocks.
 
The Hawks showed plenty of balance in the third set behind setter Kelly Sommers (Arlington Heights, Ill., Buffalo Grove) as Igielski tallied four kills and Sarah House (Crystal Lake, Ill., Crystal Lake South), Clara Moravec (Lake in the Hills, Ill., Jacobs) and Hellweg each had three kills.  This set was much closer with a tie at 12-12 before Harper edged ahead at 16-13 and extended the advantage to 18-14 before finally prevailing 25-22.
 
Harper still has matches remaining at home when they host the Harper College Invite on Oct. 6 but with this being their final home conference match, the team decided to honor their sophomores on this night.  And they all delivered.  Sommers had yet another double-double with 30 assists, Megan Kollmeyer (Tustin, Mich., Pine River) had a team-high 14 kills, Igielski had six kills and a team-high 3.5 blocks, House finished with seven kills and 12 digs, Moravec had six kills and seven digs and Sam Wallenberg (Elk Grove, Ill., St. Viator) tallied seven digs.
 
The team's next match is Thursday evening at #4 Moraine Valley Community College (Div. II).  First serve is slated for 6:00 PM.