PALATINE, Ill. – In a showdown of top-five teams, it was No. 5 Rock Valley College who emerged victorious over No. 4 Harper College on Thursday night. After winning the first set, the Hawks lost the next three sets to lose the match, 25-19, 28-30, 19-25, 12-25.

Harper (12-5, 3-1 N4C) played very well and limited mistakes in the first set victory. Daniele Sortino (Elk Grove Village, Ill. /Elk Grove) led the Hawks with five kills, and libero Meghan Chartier (Inverness, Ill./Buffalo Grove) played solid defense with eight digs. Hannah Moore (/Schaumburg) was 6-of-6 serving.

The Hawks looked good again in the second set with a 17-13 lead, but Rock Valley (10-2, 4-0 N4C) tied it at 19-19. The latter stages of the match were back-and-forth as the Hawks couldn't string together two points in a row to earn the victory and go ahead 2-0 in the match. Instead, the Golden Eagles won 30-28 to tie the match at 1-1. For Harper, Sortino and Loiacono put down five kills apiece, and setter Katelyn Sommers (/Buffalo Grove) tallied 10 assists.

In the third set, the Hawks trailed 13-10 but never really challenged for the lead. Rock Valley prevailed, 25-19, to take a 2-1 lead. Sarah Berggren (Barrington, Ill./Barrington), Jillian Hoffman (Arlington Heights, Ill./Hersey), and Shannon Igielski (Streamwood, Ill/St. Edward) each had three kills in the set.

Harper also struggled in the fourth set and lost 25-12. Debra Miller (/Marian Catholic) paced the Harper offense with three kills, and Loiacono and Sommers each had four digs.

Sortino put down a team-best 12 kills in the match on 25-of-30 hitting and was also 13-of-13 from the service line. As a team, the Hawks were 85-of-89 serving. Defensively, Chartier eclipsed the 30-dig mark with 33 digs. Katelyn Sommers (/Buffalo Grove) notched another double-double with 10 digs and 36 assists.

The Hawks play their first home invite of 2015 as they host the 11-team Harper College Invitational on Friday and Saturday. For the tournament schedule, click here.