Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

D3 #7 Harper College [19-12] lost to D2 Illinois Central [24-10] 14-25, 11-25, 21-25

Rockford, IL: 10/15/2021

In the first set, Harper fell behind early 0-8 due to some passing issues.  Then, at 6-11, Harper finally earned its first assist on a kill.  The score was 10-15, and as close as 12-16 and 14-18, before Harper lost the last 7 points in a row to fall 14-25.  Harper only had 5 kills in this set, but had 8 hitting errors.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) did all she could with 9 digs. Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) added 5 digs.  Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) was 5-5 serving with an ace.

In the second set, Harper fell behind 5-11, 6-17 on the way to a 11-25 loss.  Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) had 4 kills on 8 attacks in this set.  Rugile Jaciunas (/Wheeling H.S.) was 3-3 with 3 kills.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) added 7 digs. 

In the final set, Harper was tied at 11-11 and 14-14, before falling behind 17-22 on the way to a 21-25 loss.  Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) had 5 kills in this final set.  Cassie Schweikle (/Glenbard East) added 4 more kills.  Setter Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) had 12 assists.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) was 4 for 4 serving with 3 aces!  Jocelyn Mercado (/Schaumburg) was also 4-4 serving.

NJCAA Division III Defensive Player of the Week the prior week, Libero Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) had another 12 digs in this last set for a match-high 28 digs in this 3-set match.
 
D3 #7 Harper College [19-13] defeated Elgin [2-19] 25-13, 25-15, 25-12

Rockford, IL: 10/16/2021

In the first set, Harper took a 9-3 lead behind strong serving from Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington).  Harper extended the lead to 13-4, and then to 21-7 behind some more strong serving from Katie Hofmann (/Elk Grove).  Finally, Harper won 25-13.  Patricia Wadas (/Hoffman Estates) led Harper with 3 kills on 6 attacks.  Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) and Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) each had 5 digs.  But – serving was the story in this match… Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) was 8-8 serving with 3 aces, and Katie Hofmann (/Elk Grove) was 7-8 serving with an ace.

In the second set, Harper took a 5-0 lead behind Alyssa Rodda's (/Barrington) serves.  Harper then led 13-2 behind Natalia Smiech's (/Dundee-Crown) serving.  At that point, Harper coasted to a 25-15 win.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) and Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) each had 6 digs.  Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) continued her torrid serving with 10-10 serving with 3 aces.  Natalia added 3 aces on just 4 serves.

In the last set, Harper led 5-0, this time behind Jules Carusiello's (/Hersey H.S.) serves.  But Elgin closed the gap to 12-10.  Harper extended the lead behind Alyssa Rodda's (/Barrington) serves to 21-11, and then a 25-12 win.  Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) was unstoppable with 7 kills on 11 attacks… Katie Hofmann (/Elk Grove) added 4 kills.  Daniela Pineda (/Buffalo Grove) had 6 digs in this last set.  Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) was 10-10 serving with another ace.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) got in on the act with 8-8 serving and 2 aces.  Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) was another 4-4 with an ace.

Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) finished the match 28-28 serving with 7 aces.  We checked the Harper College record book. The record number of serves for a match is 35 held by setter Lindsey Murphy. Harper doesn't track serves differently depending upon the number of games played in the match.  Also, 7 aces was 4 shy of the record 11 aces during a 3-set match set by Erinn Hellweg set back on 9/11/2012 against Milwaukee Area Technical College.