Box Score

PALATINE, Ill. – The Harper College volleyball started slow in each set but eventually wore down defending N4C champion Joliet Junior College (25-17, 25-21, 25-13) for a sweep and their sixth consecutive win.
 
“The good thing was that we were able to rotate a lot of players in,” said head coach Bob Vilsoet.  “We also didn't make a lot of errors and give Joliet any easy points.  I'm pretty impressed.”
 
The Hawks captured the first set after briefly trailing 3-2.  Clara Moravec (Lake in the Hills, Ill., Jacobs) and Veronica Dabrowski (Des Plaines, Ill., Rolling Meadows) had kills to put Harper up 6-3, a lead the Hawks wouldn't relinquish the rest of the set.  Kelly Sommers' (Arlington Heights, Ill., Buffalo Grove) kill gave Harper some distance at 15-9 and Dabrowski closed out the set with a kill.
 
Harper faced an early deficit in the second set but battled back to win handily.  Up 3-0 on kills from Sarah House (Crystal Lake, Ill., Crystal Lake South) and Moravec, the Wolves rattled off seven straight points to pull in front.  Joliet still led 17-14 when Harper started on the comeback trail.  A kill and an ace from Moravec highlighted a 6-0 run for the Hawks in which Moravec served the final five points.  An ace from Sam Wallenberg (Elk Grove, Ill., St. Viator) put Harper in control at 22-18 before kills from Rebekah Hischke (Algonquin, Ill., Dundee Crown) and House closed out the set.
 
Joliet once again raced to a lead in the early going of the third set but the Hawks showed their resilience once again, methodically wearing down the Wolves.  Trailing 10-6, Harper got kills from Stephanie Igielski (Streamwood, Ill., St. Edwards) and Hischke to pull within one before an ace from Megan Kollmeyer (Tustin, Mich., Pine River) tied the score.  The hitting of Erinn Hellweg (Wauconda, Ill., Wauconda) helped the Hawks gradually pull away and Dabrowski had kills on five of the last six points for the 25-13 win.
 
“We have a strong offense, but our defense, especially in set three, just took over,” Vilsoet said.  “Nothing landed and that is demoralizing for the other team.”

Dabrowski finished with a team-high 12 kills in only two sets of action.  Kelly Sommers (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) had 34 assists and 15 digs while Megan Kollmeyer (Tustin, Mich./Pine River) had ten digs.  House and Hellweg added six and five kills, respectively.
 
Harper will play three matches at the College of Lake County Invite on Saturday.  The Hawks open the day with a match against Kankakee Community College at 9:00 AM, who is currently ranked in the “other receiving votes” category in Div. II.  Next up is South Suburban College at 11:00 AM and a match with the hosts at 1:00 PM will cap off the day.