Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 | Box Score 3 | Box Score 4

At Rockford UW Sports Factory Friday/Saturday, August 20/21, 2021

Harper traveled to the Opening Weekend Tournament at the UW Health Factory in Rockford, IL.  This is the largest 2-year college tournament in the country. Harper drew a VERY interesting schedule.  On Friday, the Hawks open up against last year's Division II National Champion Johnson County.  Then, Harper plays Division 3 ranked #3 Central Lakes, Minnesota.  For comparison, in the opening national poll, Harper is ranked #6 in D3.  Harper is 6-7 lifetime against Central Lakes – many of those matches happening at the NJCAA National Championship tournaments over time. On Saturday, the Hawks play a strong Division II ranked #4 team Illinois Central College (ICC).  Harper is 0-2 lifetime against ICC.  And then Harper finishes the tournament up on Saturday against a strong D1 program John A Logan College. Harper is 5-8 lifetime against John A Logan College.

D3 #6 Harper College lost to D2 #1 Johnson County 18-25, 14-25, 22-25

Harper lost the first match against the 2020-2021 Division II National Champion Johnson County Community College.  It seems Johnson County is on a mission to win 2 years in a row! Harper used 3 different lineups, and played well but was overmatched and lost in 3 sets.

D3 #6 Harper College defeated to D3 #3 Central Lakes 23-25, 25-13, 25-17, 25-20

This is a strong match pitting D3 #6 Harper College versus D3 #3 Central Lakes.  This match theoretically has strong national ranking ramifications. 

In set 1, Harper College started out complacent, and Central Lakes took an early lead at 12-18.  Harper chipped away at that lead, 14-20, 16-21 (was it really 17-20?), 18-22, 20-24, and ran the score behind Cassie's serves to 23-24, before losing 23-25 on a power tip from Central Lakes Middle Hitter.  Cassie Schweikle (/Glenbard East) led Harper with 4 kills on 4 attacks.

In set 2, Harper hustled more and tried harder, and led 3-0, 6-3, 12-6, and 21-11 on the way to a 25-13 win.  This set, Cassie Schweikle (/Glenbard East) had 5 kills, and Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) had 5 kills on 7 attacks. 

In set 3 Harper lead again 4-0, 6-3, 10-7, 11-9 but fell down 12-14 before tying the game at 14-14, and 16-16. Harper broke the game open behind Vicky Gorny's serves and led 20-16 when Central Lakes called time out… Harper extended the lead to 23-17 and won 25-17.  Vicky Gorny had 5 kills in this set.

In the last set, Harper fell behind early, and appeared to be on the way to a typical 5-set match with Central Lakes. Traditionally these 2 teams play very tight matches…  Harper fell behind 1-4, and 4-7, but tied the score at 8-8.  But Harper fell behind again 9-13 before calling timeout.  Harper charged back from 10-15 to 15-15 and even a 17-15 lead behind Jules Carusiello's (/Hersey H.S.) serving during an unfortunate rotation for Central Lakes…  Harper held on to lead 18-16, 20-18, 22-20 on the way to a 25-20 win. Patricia Wadas (/Hoffman Estates) and Katie Hoffman each had 3 kills in this final set.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) had 8 digs in this final set and was 8-8 serving with an ace. 

Harper served well this match… for the match, Vicky Gorney served 23-23 with an ace and Katie Hofmann (/Elk Grove) was 18-18 with an ace.
Coach Bob Vilsoet was very encouraged today as Harper played well against D2 #1 ranked Johnson County, despite losing, and defeated D3 #3 ranked team Central Lakes.
Some bright spots include Harper College serving over 94% as a team;  and serve receive passing is starting out the season strong at least.

D3 #6 Harper College lost to D2 #4 Illinois Central College 19-25, 25-17, 25-17, 20-25, 10-15

Harper lost in a very close 5-set match against Illinois Central College (ICC).

Set 1:  In set one, Harper fell behind 6-10, and continued behind by 4 points… 7-11, 9-13, 10-14, 15-19 until a 19-25 loss.  Katie Hofmann (/Elk Grove) had 4 kills on 6 attacks.  Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) added 4 kills.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) had 6 digs.  Cassie Schweikle (/Glenbard East) had 7 digs.

Set 2:  Harper zoomed to an 11-5 lead, while Jocelyn came off the bench with a bunch of digs and serves!  13-6, 15-6, 17-7, 18-11, 19-12, 23-15 and a 25-17 win.  Cassie Schweikle (/Glenbard East), playing OH had 5 kills on 10 swings to turn the tide.  Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) added another 3 kills.  Jules added 8 digs in this set.  Jocelyn Mercado (/Schaumburg) was on-fire on defense with 8 digs playing right-back.  Jocelyn Mercado (/Schaumburg) was 9-10 serving with an ace.

Set 3:  Harper led 4-1, then tied at 6-6… Harper led 14-8 when ICC called timeout.  ICC pulled within 15-12, but Harper went on a tear to lead 21-13 when ICC called timeout.  Harper won 25-17.  This set, Patricia Wadas (/Hoffman Estates) had 4 kills, Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) and Katie Hoffman each added 3 kills.    Libero Daniela Pineda (/Buffalo Grove) had 6 digs.  Taylor Pfaller (/St. Viator) was 7-8 serving.

Set 4:  With a 2-1 lead, Harper needed to win set 4, or set 5.  Harper started out ahead 4-1, then 11-5.  ICC worked on closing the gap…  14-11, and then 15-15 (harper was outscored 4-12 during a stretch), Harper continued behind 15-17 and 17-19 on the way to a 20-25 loss.  Vicky Gorny did her best with 4 kills, all in a row in set 4.  Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) added 3 more kills, and Cassie Schweikle (/Glenbard East) added 3 kills.   Setter Taylor Pfaller (/St. Viator) had 6 digs, Daniela Pineda (/Buffalo Grove) had 5 digs, and Jocelyn Mercado (/Schaumburg) added another 6 digs.

Set 5:  Harper started out 4-1, but then after the ref didn't call a throw on a power tip up and over the net, Harper lost the next 9 of 10 points to fall behind 5-10.  Vicky Gorny had a SMASH to close the gap to 6-11… too little, too late as Harper fell in set five 10-15.  In this final deciding set, Vicky Gorny had 3 kills.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) had 3 of Harper's 10 digs in this deciding 15-point set.
 

D3 #6 Harper College defeated D1 John A Logan 25-15, 25-18, 25-23

Harper continued playing tough teams at this tournament. This time against Division 1 opponent John A Logan College.

Set 1:  Harper sped ahead to a 6-0 lead, and continued 21-13 on the way to a well-played 25-15 win.  Katie Hofmann (/Elk Grove), Cassie Schweikle (/Glenbard East) and Natalia Smiech (/Dundee-Crown) each had 3 kills.  Libero Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) had 6 digs.  Jules Carusiello (/Hersey H.S.) was 9-9 serving with an ace.

Set 2:  This set was much closer, as a tired Logan team tied the score at 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 7-7 and 8-8 before Harper took a commanding 14-8 lead behind Taylor Pfaller's (/St. Viator) serves… Logan mounted a furious comeback… 15-10, 17-12, 19-15 and 20-17, until Harper won 25-18.  Vicky Gorny had 3 kills.  Outside hitter Vicky Gorny had 7 digs.  Taylor Pfaller (/St. Viator) was 8-8 serving with 2 aces.

Set 3:  Harper started out big at 7-1 again.  The rest of the match Logan continued to creep back in… 9-4, 13-9, 16-12, 18-14, and then a hard fought 20-17 point, 22-20, 23-21, 24-22, and a 25-23 win.  Vicky Gorny had 5 kills.  Setter Taylor Pfaller (/St. Viator) had 5 digs.  Taylor Pfaller (/St. Viator) followed up with 7-7 serving with 3 aces in this final set.
 
Harper finished this Opening Weekend Tournament (OWT) with a 2-2 record, but defeating D3 #3 Central Lakes, and D1 John A Logan made this tournament a major success.  Too bad Harper lost to D2 #4 Illinois Central in 5 sets.  Harper also had the opportunity to open against last year's D2 National Champion Johnson County, and although lost in 3 straight sets, was surprisingly competitive in both team's first match of the season.
 
Next match will be at Harper College on Thursday, August 26, 2021, against Trinity International University JV team.