PALATINE, IL-  The #1 ranked Harper College women's volleyball team traveled to Oglesby to participate in the Illinois Valley Tri-Match on Saturday.  The Hawks finished the trip with a 4 set win over St. Ambrose JV and a three-set win over DII Illinois Valley.

MATCH 1:  Harper defeated St. Ambrose JV (27-25, 19-25, 25-21, 25-12)

Before either team reached double-digit points on Saturday, the first set saw a total of five ties before the Hawks were finally able to extend to a 13-9 lead and St. Ambrose called a time-out.  Harper was able to get ahead 19-12 but, as has been all too familiar this year, there was late set drama.  St. Ambrose was able to make a run to be back within 4 at 23-19 and then tied the set at 23.  There would be two more ties at 24 and 25 before the Hawks were able to scrape the last two points to win the set 27-25.  Ellie Burzlaff (Elgin/Harvest Christian Academy) came up big at the end as she gave the Hawks their last two points with a kill and then a set-ending ace.  She finished the set with 8 kills.  Emily Huprich (Elgin/Elgin) had 12 assists and Breanna Cullen (Chana/Oregon) had 5 digs.  Huprich and Angelina Nichols (Arlington Heights/Christian Liberty Academy) went a combined 12-13 serving with 3 aces.

Harper took the momentum from the first set win and got ahead early 3-0 and 6-1 before St. Ambrose called a time-out after the lead grew to 12-7.  The break seemed to slow down the Hawks as the Fighting Bees came back to tie the set at 14 and 15.  The Hawks were not able to hold off the charge and fell behind 18-19 before falling in the second set 19-25.  Burzlaff led the team again with 6 kills while Sarah Udoni (Palatine/Palatine) and Marielle Lugo (Hoffman Estates/Hoffman Estates) had 2 each.  Huprich repeated her first set performance with another 12 assists.  Cullen and Lugo paced the Hawks with 5 digs each.

The third set brought another closely contested set from start to finish as the teams battled to a total of 8 ties and 3 lead changes.  The Hawks came back from two early deficits, to tie the set, and then go ahead 18-15 before St. Ambrose once again would not go down quietly and tied it twice more.  Harper would eventually be able to hold off for a 25-21 win.  Burzlaff was held in check this set as she had 3 kills, but Sarah Udoni (Palatine/Palatine) came up big with 7 kills and a block.  Gabby Fugle (Island Lake/Wauconda) provided a spark with 4 kills of her own.  Emily Huprich (Elgin/Elgin) kept rolling with 16 assists and Breanna Cullen (Chana/Oregon) was all over the floor with 11 digs.  Karolina Sas (Palatine/Fremd) and Cullen went a combined 12-12 serving.

The fourth set looked like it was on the way to being another thriller as the two teams were tied early at 3, but the Fighting Bees were starting their ninth set in a row and fatigue had to have played a role when the Hawks jumped ahead 10-6.  St. Ambrose called a time-out with a 10-6 score, but this time it would not work in their favor.  The Hawks would not relinquish their lead the rest of the way and finished the match with a 25-12 fourth set victory.  The duo of Burzlaff and Udoni totaled 9 kills and Huprich had another 10 assists, giving her 50 in the match.

Head coach Bob Vilsoet was happy with how his team performed against a tough team saying, "St. Ambrose has a good JV team.  You can tell this JV team plays a lot, they are 'battle-tested.'  This was a fun match."

MATCH 2:  Harper defeated DII Illinois Valley (25-19, 25-19, 25-13).

The Hawks dove right into their second match of the day but fell behind early 0-3.  Harper would then go on to score 11 of the next 12 points to go ahead 7-4.  They would keep the lead for the remainder of the set on the way to winning the opening set 25-19.  Sarah Udoni (Palatine/Palatine) kept up her strong play up front with 4 kills and 6 rejections, one of which leading to a block.  Angelina Nichols (Arlington Heights/Christian Liberty Academy) had 2 kills.  Emily Huprich (Elgin/Elgin) was all over the place with 8 assists, 6 digs, a kill, and a block in the set.  Breanna Cullen (Chana/Oregon) had 7 digs and Marielle Lugo (Hoffman Estates/Hoffman Estates) was a perfect 6-6 serving.

Another early deficit in the second set did not deter the Hawks as they battled back from a 1-3 deficit to score 8 of the next 9 points for a 9-4 lead.  The lead would stick for another 25-19 win.  Gabby Fugle (Island Lake/Wauconda) led the Harper attack with 3 kills while Mackenzie Bush (Bartlett/Bartlett) had 1.5 blocks.  Ellie Burzlaff (Elgin/Harvest Christian Academy) had 5 digs and 3 aces while Huprich and Cullen contributed 4 digs each.

The third set was again close at the beginning, with ties at 1-1, 2-2, and 3-3, until the Hawks would extend to leads of 8-4 and 12-7.  After going ahead 17-11, Harper would only allow IVCC to score two points for the rest of the match and finished the day with a 25-13 set three victory.  Sarah Udoni (Palatine/Palatine) had 5 more kills while Mackenzie Bush (Bartlett/Bartlett) had 4 blocks in a row to give her 5.5 for the match.  Emily Huprich (Elgin/Elgin) had 11 assists and Lydia Schiller (Hoffman Estates/Classical Consortium Academy) was 6-6 serving.

Huprich finished the match with another double-double (10 digs, 26 assists) while Udoni led the team with 11 kills. 

The Hawks are now 32-5 on the season and will take on Moraine Valley Community College on Tuesday in Palos Hills.  This will be the Hawks last regular season match before NJCAA postseason play begins on Wednesday.