PALATINE, IL-  The #1 ranked Harper College women's volleyball team swept N4C opponent Rock Valley Golden Eagles on Thursday in Arlington Heights.

The first set started ominously for the Hawks as they found themselves down 0-2 before head coach Bob Vilsoet called an early timeout.  The timeout proved to be beneficial as the Hawks responded to take an 8-3 lead.  Harper extended the lead to 11-4 before Rock Valley turned up the pressure to trim the lead to 15-13.  RVC was able to battle to a tie at 15 apiece before Harper took control again, finding themselves up 22-17 after a long rally.  Harper then closed the set at 25-19.  Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) led the Hawks in the set going 12-12 serving with 2 aces.  Sophomore setter Emily Huprich (/Elgin) had yet another strong showing with 16 assists.

Harper was once again down early in set two 2-3 before coming back to tie the set at 4 points each.  The Hawks then battled to take an 8-5 lead that freshman Gabby Fugle (/Wauconda) was able to extend to 15-8 after a string of strong serves.  Harper took a 21-12 lead before Rock Valley called a timeout, hoping to stop the Hawks' momentum.  Sophomore Sarah Udoni (/Palatine) then clinched the 25-16 set win with a kill.  Huprich had another 10 assists and also had 3 kills of her own.  Fugle and Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) were a combined 11-11 serving with 2 aces.

As was the case for the previous two sets, the Hawks were again trailing early 3-5.  However, as Harper has shown all season, they were not going to be easy to put away and battled back to an 11-7 lead after a Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) kill.  After a Cullen ace, she showed off her defense after a nice dig to Ariana Chelini (/Crystal Lake South), who set up Marielle Lugo (/Hoffman Estates) for a kill extended the lead to 16-10.  The Hawks front row then took over as Udoni, Burzlaff, and Lugo all had kills to end the set 25-20, clinching Harper's 7th sweep of the season.

Another well-rounded approach led the Hawks to their 9th win in a row.  Sarah Udoni (/Palatine) paced the offense with 12 kills while Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) and Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) each had 9.  Mackenzie Bush (/Bartlett) and Marielle Lugo (/Hoffman Estates) rounded out the attacking with seven and six kills, respectively.  Serving was once again strong for the Hawks as Karolina Sas (/Fremd) (11-11, ace), Burzlaff (12-12, ace), and Gabby Fugle (/Wauconda) (6-6, ace) were all perfect from the line.  Multiple Hawks played strong defense as Cullen had 13 digs, Ariana Chelin had 12, while Emily Huprich (/Elgin), Burzlaff, and Lugo each had 9.  Huprich also had another great showing with 38 assists in the 3-set match.

The Hawks (11-2, 3-0 N4C) will travel to Minnesota this weekend to partake in the Rochester Community and Technical College Invitational.  The next home match will be September 28 against McHenry Community College.