PALATINE, IL-  The defending national champion and #1 ranked Harper College volleyball team traveled to Minnesota over the weekend to participate in the Rochester Community and Technical College Invitational.  Harper finised 3-1 in the Friday and Saturday tournament.

MATCH 1:  Harper defeated Central Lakes (25-20, 25-18, 25-23)

Harper began the tournament Friday evening with a three set sweep of Central Lakes.  The first set started out close as the teams were tied 2-2 and 4-4 before the Hawks took three straight points to go up 7-4.  Harper would remain in the lead the rest of the way en route to a 25-20 win.  Sarah Udoni had 3 kills, Breanna Cullen had 4 digs, and Ellie Burzlaff went 7-7- serving with an ace.

The second set was once again close at the beginning, seeing ties from 2-2 to 5-5 until the Hawks took the lead 8-6.  They would stay ahead for the remainder of the set and took set two 25-18.  Buzlaff led Harper with 5 kills while Ariana Chelini had 7 digs and Karolina Sas matched Burzlaff's serving line from the first set at 7-7 with an ace.

Set three was no different than the first two as both teams were tied 1-1, 2-2, 5-5, and 7-7 before Marielle Lugo's strong serving brought the Hawks up 12-7.  Harper would then extend the lead to 19-11 before finishing the match with a 25-13 third set win.  Breanna Cullen had 3 kills, Ariana Chelini had 8 digs and Lugo was 8-8 serving with an ace.

Breanna Cullen (8 kills), Ellie Burzlaff (8 kills), and Sarah Udoni (6 kills) led an efficient Hawks' attack that totaled 33 kills.  Harper finished the match with 5 aces and served at a 90.4% clip.  Ariana Chelini finished with 17 digs while Emily Huprich had 11.  Huprich finished with 25 assists, giving her a double-double.

MATCH 2:  Harper defeated #10 Northland (25-9, 25-11, 25-20)

Emily Huprich put the Hawks ahead early in the second match of the day as she had 7 consecutive service points to start the first set.  Harper would then see leads of 13-4, 16-5, and 21-8 before taking set one 25-9.  In addition to her serving, Huprich had 15 assists.  Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) led the Harper with 6 kills while Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) and Sarah Udoni (/Palatine) had 4 apiece.  Karolina Sas (/Fremd) had 6 digs and was perfect serving going 6-6.  Huprich and Cullen went a combined 13-13 serving with 6 aces.

Huprich took her hot start from set one into the second and served the Hawks to a quick 4-0 lead.  The sophomore setter once again contributed on the offensive side, leading the Hawks to a 25-11 victory in set two.  Sarah Udoni (/Palatine) (5 kills) and Angelina Nichols (/Christian Liberty Academy) (4 kills) paced the Hawks offensive attack while Ariana Chelini (/Crystal Lake South) had 8 digs.  Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) was 7-7 serving and also had 4 digs.

The third set was much more competitive from the get go, as the two teams saw five ties from 1-1 up to 10-10.  The set would remain close throughout until the Hawks finally finished the match with a 25-20 win.  Huprich kept her hot streak going with yet another 15 assists while Burzlaff had 5 more kills.  Chelini and Sas were a combined 13-13 serving, while Chelini also had 7 digs.

In the match, Harper finished with 8 aces and served at 93%.  Burzlaff finished with 11 kills while Udoni and Cullen just missed double digits with 9 kills each.  Huprich had 43 assists in the three set match and Burzlaff tallied a double-double, adding 12 digs.

MATCH 3:  Harper defeated D2 Bismarck State (25-19, 18-25, 25-19, 25-13)

Harper had a quick turnaround from Friday as they took on Bismarck State at 11am on Saturday.  The Hawks did not seem fazed and took an 6-3 lead to begin the first set.  Bismarck mounted a comeback as the set was then tied 8-8, 9-9, and 11-11 before Harper then took a 4 point lead they would hold the rest of the set on the way to a 25-19 win.  Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) had a great set, finishing with 7 kills while Emily Huprich (/Elgin) was perfect serving and had another ace.

In set two, Harper hitting errors accounted for six of the first 13 points for Bismarck State and the Hawks found themselves down early.  Harper was down 0-3 and were not able to bounce back, and remained down by at least 5 points for the remainder of the set.  Despite the 18-25 loss, Huprich again tallied double digit assists with 12, while Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) and Cullen each had 4 kills.  Ariana Chelini (/Crystal Lake South) contributed on both sides, going 7-7 serving and had 4 digs.

The Hawks were much more efficient early in the third set, getting ahead 3-0 and 6-1.  Harper kept their 6 point advantage for the majority of the set and won 25-19.  Huprich filled the stat sheet with 11 assists, 5 digs, and 7-7 serving.  Solid defense was seen throughout the set as Ariana Chelini (/Crystal Lake South) had 7 digs, Marielle Lugo (/Hoffman Estates) had 6, and Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) had 5 to add to her 5 kills.

Set four was close early, seeing a 3-3 tie turn into a 7-4 Hawk lead before Ariana Chelini (/Crystal Lake South)'s serving extended the lead to 11-4.  Once again, Harper was able to stretch the lead and took the set 25-13, ending the match.  Huprich had her sixth consecutive set with double digit assists, this time finishing with 12.  Chelini stayed sharp on defense and had 13 digs.  Chelini and Burzlaff had 2 aces each.

Harper saw three players finish with a double-double after a very well rounded match.  Emily Huprich (/Elgin) had 19 digs and 46 assists, Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) had 16 kills and 13 digs, and Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) had 19 kills and 18 digs.

MATCH 4:  Harper lost to D2 #20 Des Moines Area Community College (24-26, 19-25, 26-24, 13-25)

The fourth and final match for Harper at the invitational was full of excitement and energy but unfortunately the Hawks could not complete the sweep.  Set one saw another ties at 1-1, 2-2, 7-7, 12-12, and 13-13, leaving no room for error from either team.  DMACC eventually pulled ahead 16-20 and 19-22 but Harper would once again tie it up at 23-23 and 24-24 before falling 24-26.  A few close calls throughout the set could have changed the outcome for the Hawks but they stayed in the game from the beginning.  ArianaChelini was 9 for 9 serving and had 3 aces.

Set two was again close at the beginning, being tied up to 4-4 before DMACC took a 6-11 advantage.  Harper would fight back to within 1 at 13-14 but could not complete the comeback and lost the second set 19-25.  Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian), Marielle Lugo (/Hoffman Estates), and Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) all had 3 kills while Cullen also had 7 digs.

The third set was one for the ages as the Hawks went from a 5-5 tie to down 19-24 and looked like they were facing their first sweep of the 2017 season.  However, Harper was not ready for the end of the match as they mounted an incredible comeback and scored 7 unanswered points to win 26-24.  Gabby Fugle (/Wauconda) sparked the comeback and went 7-7 serving with an ace.  Great defense kept the Hawks in the match as Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) had 7 digs, Emily Huprich (/Elgin) and Ariana Chelini (/Crystal Lake South) had 6, and Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) had 5.

Harper would not be able to find the same magic from the previous set to start the fourth.  A shanked serve and a ball hitting the antenna set the tone for what was in store for the remainder of the match as the Hawks found themselves down 0-6 and 1-7.  There would be no comeback in the set as Harper fell 13-25, ending their 12 match winning streak.

After the eventful third match and the great comeback in set three of this match, the Hawks appeared to just ran out of gas, according to head coach Bob Vilsoet.  "After playing Bismarck State in a tough 4-set match, and now right away against DMACC in another 4-set match, Harper ran out of gas.  We needed a match to rest in between.  It was a gallant effort, and certainly fun and exciting to watch, but an uphill climb against a very strong DMACC team."  Huprich (13 digs, 36 assists) and Burzlaff (15 kills, 12 digs) finished with a double-double for the second consecutive match.

Up next for the Hawks (14-3, 3-0 N4C) is an N4C matchup against the Madison College WolfPack in Madison, WI on Tuesday.  The match is scheduled to start at 6pm.