PALATINE, IL-  The #2 ranked Harper College volleyball team went to Glen Ellyn over the weekend to participate in the COD Invitational.  The Hawks finished the tournament 3-1.

Match One-  Rock Valley defeats Harper (20-25, 25-20, 25-16, 23-25, 13-15)

The Hawks had multiple leads throughout the first set including a 16-11 lead before a Golden Eagle timeout.  The stoppage in play energized RVC as they came back to defeat the Hawks 20-25.  In the second set, the Hawks once again had an early lead before another RVC comeback to tie the set 15 all.  Harper would find themselves down 16-18 before battling back to a 25-20 win.  After ties at 10 and 13 in set three, Harper took charge and took the third set bu a convincing 26-16 score.  The fourth set saw more heartbreak for the Hawks.  Despite an 18-10 lead after some strong serving, RVC mounted another furious comeback for a 23-25 win and tied the match at 2 sets apiece.  Harper fell behind early in the decisive fifth set but they were able to come back within one at 13-14 before RVC ended the match.

Lydia Schiller (Hoffman Estates/Classical Consortium Academy) and Gabby Fugle led the team with 10 kills each with Abby Wemple and Ashley Rothenberg (7 kills each) right behind them.  The Hawks had 10 service errors, but still managed to serve at a 90.5% clip with 9 aces, led by Kayla Agoranos' 3.  Schiller was a force on both sides of the ball as she also led the team with 5.5 blocks.  Karolina Sas had 19 digs while Carlene Colton (Lake in the Hills/Huntley) had 18.  Setter Kathleen Gueco added another double-double with 15 digs and 42 assists.

Match Two-  Harper defeats Black Hawk (25-17, 25-21, 25-17)
The Hawks bounced back after a tough 5-set loss by jumping ahead to an early 7-1 lead.  Harper would remain in control throughout the set for a 25-17 win.  The second set was a flipped script as the Hawks were behind early 5-10.  They would bring the deficit back to one on multiple occasions before eventually tying the set at 20.  Harper would finish the set on a 5-1 run for a 25-21 victory.  Set three looked a lot more like set one as an early 7-3 lead allowed the Hawks to sweep the match with another 25-17 score.

Kayla Agoranos (Hampshire/Hampshire) paced the Hawks with an efficient 10 kills while Gabby Fugle (Island Lake/Wauconda) was right behind her with 9.  The Hawks served much better in their second match of the day at 95.8% and 2 aces.  Karolina Sas (Palatine/Fremd) once again led Harper with 21 digs while Agoranos chipped in 12, giving her a double-double.  Kathleen Gueco (Hanover Park/Hoffman Estates) had 32 of the Hawks' 39 assists.
 
Match Three-  Harper defeats Joliet (18-25, 25-18, 25-11, 25-15)
Another slow start by Harper put them in an early 5-9 hole that they were unable to dig themselves out of before an 18-25 first set loss.  Set two started out much the same as the Hawks were down 3-7.  However, the team made a great run to go ahead 11-9 and did not look back on the way to a 25-18 win to even the match at one set each.  Harper was able to take the momentum from the previous set as they went ahead 11-5 early and finished off a 25-11 third set victory.  The Hawks were in control throughout the fourth set and finished the match with a 25-15 win.

Gabby Fugle (Island Lake/Wauconda) went off in this match with a team-high 14 kills.  Serving was a strong point as the Hawks totaled 11 aces, including 4 from Kayla Agoranos (Hampshire/Hampshire).  Karolina Sas (Palatine/Fremd) (18), Kathleen Gueco (Hanover Park/Hoffman Estates) (16), Agoranos (16), Carlene Colton (Lake in the Hills/Huntley) (13), and Jessica Smith (West Chicago/West Chicago) (10) all notched double digit digs in the match.  Gueco finished off another double-double with 43 assists.
 
Match Four-  Harper defeats Kishwaukee (25-21, 25-20, 25-18)
The first set lacked the excitement for the Hawks as they took an early lead on the way to a 25-21 win.  A 4-2 start in the second set once again put the Hawks in charge as they took the set 25-20.  Harper continued their dominance throughout the third set with scores of 10-4 and 14-8 before finishing off the sweep with a 25-18 win.

Gabby Fugle (Island Lake/Wauconda) led the way once again for the Hawks with 12 kills and Kayla Agoranos (Hampshire/Hampshire) finished with 9 of her own.  9 total aces kept the script of strong second day serving going as Kathleen Gueco (Hanover Park/Hoffman Estates) had 3 and Mackenzie Bush (Bartlett/Bartlett) and Karolina Sas (Palatine/Fremd) each had 2.  Gueco also led the team with 12 digs and Sas was right behind her with 10.  Gueco's 41 assists gave her her 3^rd double-double of the four-match tournament.
 
Head coach Bob Vilsoet was happy with his team's performance saying "Harper is 8-2 to start the year and 2-0 in N4C play already.  I'm hoping this is the beginning of something special again this year."
 
Harper's next match is Tuesday as they host Rock Valley at 6pm.