PALATINE, IL-  The #1 ranked Harper College women's volleyball team traveled over the weekend to partake in the Kankaee Tri-Match against Kalamazoo Valley Community College and host Kankakee.

MATCH 1- Harper defeated Kankakee (25-20, 25-18, 21-25, 25-18)

The first set on Saturday saw both teams battle from the first point through the end of the set.  After a 3-3 tie, the Hawks fell behind the Cavaliers by scores of 6-10. 7-11, and 12-14 before Kankakee called a timeout.  Harper continued to stay within striking distance after the time out, bringing the score to 15-18 and then tying the set at 20.  The Hawks then went on a roll to take the set 25-22.  Middle hitter Mackenzie Bush (/Bartlett) led the offensive comeback with 6 kills.  Set two saw Harper take the momentum from the first set win and jumped out to a 5-0 lead after strong serving from Emily Huprich (/Elgin).  That lead was extended to 13-6 before Kankakee took a time-out but the Cavaliers were not able to mount a comeback.  Harper took set two 25-18 behind Sarah Udoni (/Palatine) (7 kills), Huprich (11 assists), and Ariana Chelini (/Crystal Lake South) (11 digs).  The third set saw another strong start from the Hawks who started with a quick 4-0 lead.  The Cavaliers would not let the Hawks extend it past a four point lead as they came back to tie the set at 6-6, 7-7, and 9-9 before Harper found themselves behind 10-12, then 11-17.  After a Harper time-out, Kankakee kept up their strong play and took the set 21-25.  Huprich added another 11 assists while Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) showed strong defense, finishing with 12 digs.  Set four would prove to be the final one of the match when the Hawks jumped out to another strong lead, this time 8-2.  After extending the lead to 15-8, Kankakee called another time-out.  Harper did not let the stoppage in play slow them down, as they kept up the high level of play and took the set 25-18, finishing the match.

Harper saw a very well-rounded match on both the defensive and offensive sides.  The team totaled 55 kills (Udoni 15, Bush 12, Cullen 9, and Marielle Lugo (/Hoffman Estates) 7), 10 aces (Chelini 4, Huprich 4, Karolina Sas (/Fremd) 1, and Angelina Nichols (/Christian Liberty Academy) 1), 110 digs (Chelini 32, Cullen 27, and Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) 16), 10 blocks (Bush 4, Udoni 3.5, Lugo 2.5) and 55 assists.  Emily Huprich (/Elgin) finished with a double-double, totaling 11 digs and 47 assists.

MATCH 2- Harper defeated D2 Kalamazoo Valley (25-13, 25-12, 25-17)

Harper once again started quickly, finding themselves ahead 5-2, and 7-4 after a long rally.  After extending the lead to 14-8, the Hawks were able to finish off the Cougars by a score of 25-13.  Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) led the offensive attack with 7 kills, while Emily Huprich (/Elgin) had 10 assists and Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) had 7 digs.  The second set saw the Hawks get ahead early, this time 5-1.  Harper would not slow down from there, extending the lead to 17-6, 20-8, before ending the set with a 25-12 win.  Burzlaff and Gabby Fugle (/Wauconda) had 3 kills apiece.  Huprich had another 11 assists while Cullen and Burzlaff each had 5 digs.  Set three found the Hawks in a familiar place early, as Breanna Cullen (/Oregon)'s 8 consecutive service pounds made the score 10-1.  Harper would stay hot for the remainder of the set, taking leads of 12-5, 16-7, 17-10, and finished the match with a 25-17 third set win.  Burzlaff stayed hot with 6 more kills.  Huprich was again a focus of the offense with a spectacular 17 assists.

Efficient offense led the Hawks in their second match, as they hit at a 44% clip with 44 kills.  Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) had 16 of her own while Cullen and Udoni had 7 apiece.  Harper saw 4 aces, receiving 2 each from Ariana Chelini (/Crystal Lake South) and Burzlaff.  Cullen and Chelini were active on the defensive side with 17 and 12 digs, respectively.

Head coach Bob Vilsoet was happy with the way his team performed on Saturday saying, "We played 2 near masterpieces again, today.  We were able to defeat two strong teams.  We are playing very well together this early in the season.  This is why we play these good matches-- to learn about our team and to improve."

Harper improves to 9-2 (1-0 N4C) on the season. Next up for the Hawks sees travel to N4C opponent #7 College of DuPage on Tuesday.