PALATINE, IL- The #1 ranked Harper College volleyball team traveled to Madison, Wisconsin on Tuesday for a matchup against the #2 ranked Madison College WolfPack in an instant classic. The Hawks were able to win the match after four hard fought sets.
The first set of the match started in the Hawks favor as they were ahead 2-0 and 6-3 before the WolfPack mounted a mini comeback to tie the score at 8 all. The set would then see ties of 9-9, 10-10, 11-11, 12-12, and 13-13 before the Hawks finally created some breathing room at 15-13. Harper then extended the lead to 21-15 and 23-16 when
Mackenzie Bush (/Bartlett) blocked the last two Madison hitting attempts to win the set 25-16.Â
Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) had 4 kills and 5 digs, while
Emily Huprich (/Elgin) also had 5 digs plus 10 assists.Â
Karolina Sas (/Fremd) was 7-7 serving and
Ariana Chelini (/Crystal Lake South) had 6 digs.
Set two saw the Hawks down early 1-3, 2-5, and 5-7 before battling back for the first of
nine ties at 7-7. The ninth and final tie of the set was at 16-16 before Sas' strong serves gave Harper a 20-16 lead. Sas stayed hot after a Madison time out and brought the Hawks to 23-16 before taking the set 25-18.Â
Emily Huprich (/Elgin) was once again heavily involved with another 17-assist set and 6 digs. Cullen and
Sarah Udoni (/Palatine) each had 5 kills, and
Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) and
Marielle Lugo (/Hoffman Estates) had 3 apiece. Chelini added another 9 digs onto her stat sheet while Cullen had 8 of her own. Sas was once again perfect serving at 9-9 with an ace.
Harper started off hot in set three, winning the first two points before Madison answered back for yet another tie at 2-2 and 3-3. The WolfPack were then able to hit their stride as they saw leads of 3-7, 5-9, and 8-13 before Harper took a timeout. The Hawks were not able to close the gap the rest of the set and fell in set three 18-25.Â
Breanna Cullen (/Oregon) led the Hawks with another 7 digs.
As was the case to start the previous three sets, the Hawks were ahead early 2-0 and 6-3 until Madison once again got hot and Harper was down 7-10 before another timeout. The Hawks stayed within 3 after the timeout when
Karolina Sas (/Fremd) served Harper back into a tie at 11-11. The teams then saw
another six ties from 12-12 until 21-21 until the Hawks received some help from the "magic serving wand" of
Gabby Fugle (/Wauconda). Fugle came up and served 3 points, including an ace, for a 24-21 lead. Harper would then go on to close out the set, and the match, with a 25-22 win. Huprich saw double-digit assists yet again with 11 in the set, while
Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) and
Mackenzie Bush (/Bartlett) had 4 and 3 kills, respectively. Chelini (7 digs) and Cullen (6 digs) stayed strong on he defensive end. Fugle finished the match 5-5 serving with the well-timed tie breaking ace near the end of the match.
An incredible all-around effort helped the Hawks avoid losing two in a row and extended their 2017 N4C winning steak to four. Harper received double-doubles from Huprich (14 digs, 44 assists) and Cullen (12 kills, 26 digs). As a team, the Hawks finished with 48 kills, 5 aces, 106 digs, 45 assists, and a season-high 12 blocks. Harper served at an incredible 96.7% clip with
Karolina Sas (/Fremd) (23 of 23, 2 aces),
Ellie Burzlaff (/Harvest Christian) (16 of 16, 2 aces),
Ariana Chelini (/Crystal Lake South) (13 of 13),
Emily Huprich (/Elgin) (13 of 13),
Gabby Fugle (/Wauconda) (11 of 11, ace), and
Angelina Nichols (/Christian Liberty Academy) (2 of 2) all finishing without a service error.
In a match that saw a total of 17 ties, head coach
Bob Vilsoet said, "This was like watching two heavyweight fighters duke it out. The match was much closer than the scores indicate. Calling this a 3-1 win just doesn't do the match justice. This was another great match tonight."
On the season, the Hawks improved to 15-3 overall and 4-0 in the N4C. Harper will travel back up to Wisconsin on Thursday, this time to take on the Milwaukee Area Technical College Stormers at 6pm.
