Springfield, IL: 10/1/2021 & 10/2/2021

Harper defeated D2 Allen County and D2 Black Hawk, but lost to D2 perennially ranked Lincoln Land and D2 #4 Sauk Valley.  Last year at this tournament, the NJCAA National Tournament-bound 2019 Harper team went 0-4 in this tournament.

D3 #4 Harper College defeated D2 Allen County 25-20, 25-14, 25-13

Harper started off on the right foot in this tournament, winning the first match against Allen County.  In the first set, after ties at 8-8 and 12-12, Harper took a slim lead 15-12 and nursed it to the finish line at 20-15, 21-18 and a 25-20 win.  The second set started out close at 3-3 and 4-4, when Harper took a lead at 9-4, and extended to 17-7, before winning 25-14.  In the third set, Harper again jumped out to a 5-2 lead, then 9-4, 12-7… extended to 16-8 and 20-9 before winning 25-13.

Statistical leaders for Harper were Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) with 9 kills, and Katie Hofmann (/Elk Grove) and Cassie Schweikle (/Glenbard East) each with 8 kills.  Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) was 14-14 serving with 2 aces.  Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) added 4 aces, Jocelyn Mercado (/Schaumburg) was 10-11 with 3 aces.  Ruglie Jaciunas ended the match with 3 blocks.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) had 14 digs, and Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) had 11 digs.  Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) had 33 assists.

D3 #4 Harper College lost to D2 Lincoln Land 14-25, 18-25, 11-25

Lincoln Land not currently ranked in the D2 Top-20 is under-ranked!  In the first set, Harper started out 1-6, and 5-10, and just couldn't close the gap.  Harper remained behind 9-18, and 10-20 before losing 14-25.  In the second set, Harper played well, and had leads of 5-2 and 10-6, before allowing Lincoln Land to tie the score at 11's and 12's.  Harper proceeded to miss 3 serves in a row, but was still in the set at 17-17.  Then Lincoln Land went into overdrive to win 18-25.  The third set found Harper fall behind quickly 2-6, and 4-14 on the way to an 11-25 drubbing.

Leaders for Harper included 6 kills for Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown).  Harper had just 20 kills but had 22 hitting errors in this tough match.  Lincoln Land successfully dug the other 55 Harper attacks.  Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) was Harper's best server at 9-9 serving for the match.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) had 13 digs, and Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) had 11 digs.  Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) led Harper with 14 assists. Taylor Pfaller (/St. Viator) played and had just 4 assists.

10/2/2021

D3 #4 Harper College defeated D2 Black Hawk 25-19, 25-23, 27-25

This match against  Black Hawk was closer than the 3-0 win showed.  In the first set, There were 7 ties (1-1, 5-5, 8-8, 10-10, 13-13, 17-17, and 18-18).  Finally, Harper pulled out a 25-19 win.  In the second set, more of the same… there were 7 more ties at 1-1, 2-2, 4-4, 5-5, 12-12, 13-13, and 22-22.  Again, Harper pulled out a 25-23 win.  In the final set, there were 8 ties at 1-1, 7-7, 17-17, 20-20, 22-22, 23-23, 24-24, and 25-25, before Harper pulled out a 2-point 27-25 win.

Leading the Harper attack were Cassie Schweikle (/Glenbard East) and Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown), each with 10 kills.  Katie Hofmann (/Elk Grove) led Harper's servers at 15-15 with 2 aces.  Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington), Daniela Pineda (/Buffalo Grove) and Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) each had 3 aces, and 14 total for the 3-set match.  Defensively, Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) had 24 digs.  Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) ended the match with a double-double… 14 digs and 29 assists.  Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) added 15 digs for her double-double, as well.

D3 #4 Harper College lost to D2 #4 Sauk Valley 15-25, 15-25, 14-25

Harper College had NO answer for #5 Michal Willman on the Sauk Valley roster.  She played at Iowa State as Michal Schuler and had some pretty amazing stats as an NCAA player on their 2019 and 2020 teams.

It felt like Harper was playing against 2 different teams on the Sauk Valley side of the net.  One team was Michal Willman, and the other was the remaining players at Sauk Valley.  Willman ended the match with 16 kills on 32 total attacks. The other outside hitter Kiley Sanders nearly matched her with her own 12 kills on just 21 attacks.  Harper had some excellent rallies and defense… and then Michal Willman would clobber the ball.  Sauk Valley is currently ranked #4 in NJCAA Div II volleyball.  It will be interesting to see where Sauk Valley finishes at the Div II National Championship tournament.  This Sauk Valley team with Willman has a chance to win this year's D2 national championship.  Harper has played some VERY VERY tough teams this year!

In the first set, Harper fell behind 0-8.  Harper closed to gap to 8-12 and 9-13, before falling behind 12-21 and losing 15-25.  In the second set, Harper was close… 10-13 at the midpoint on the way to a 15-25 loss.  In the last set, Harper fell behind again 1-8 and 4-14, before losing 14-25.

For the match, Patricia Wadas (/Hoffman Estates) and Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) led Harper with 4 kills, each.  Taylor Pfaller (/St. Viator) led Harper's serving with 9-10 serving and an ace.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) led Harper with 13 digs.  Taylor Pfaller (/St. Viator) had 11 assists, and Alyssa Rodda (/Barrington) had 6 assists.

Harper will take on Oakton College 10/4/2021 at HOME 6:00pm GO HAWKS!!!