West Aurora finishes off Geneva

Failing to close out several matches during a disappointing 1-4 finish Saturday at the Benet tournament left West Aurora with something to work on Monday night at Geneva.

The Blackhawks came through in fine fashion. They started by fending off 2 Geneva game points in Game 1 for a 27-25 victory, then broke free from a 19-19 tie for a 25-21 win in Game 2 behind a sizzling service run from Wiconsin-bound junior Lauren Carlini.

“We were basically ahead the whole game and kind of let it go,” said Carlini of Saturday’s matches at Benet. “Today that was one of our goals to fix that and stay ahead and pull it out. It was a good win for us.”

Carlini just returned from Turkey where she played on the United States Junior Olympic team this summer. She’s making the transition back to high school volleyball after playing with and against some of the best volleyball players in the world at her age.

“It has helped me as a player and as a person,” Carlini said. “I have to know how each player ticks and what makes them play better. As a volleyball player it makes me realize how different people learn and different people react to others. It’s really helped me out a lot.”

West Aurora (2-4) took an early 4-point lead in Game 2 before Geneva (1-1) used a balanced attack with kills by Melissa Hanika, Jess Wicinski and Kelly Gordon to take its own 4-pont lead at 14-10.

A backrow kill from Carlini broke the final tie and gave the Blackhawks a 20-19 lead. It also put the serve in her hands, and the 6-foot-2 Carlini started her run with an ace off her powerful jump serve.

West Aurora won the next point when Carlini set Peyton McKenzie for a kill, then Carlini blistered another jump serve down the right line for an ace and a 23-19 lead.

“When we are losing and I get to serve my main thing is to get the ball in and make them get out of system,” Carlini explained. “When we start building the lead up I start bringing more of the heat. That (ace down the line) was totally meant to happen.”

After Carlini set Abriya Zeitz for a kill to get to match point, she delivered another wicked serve that Geneva couldn’t control and bumped right back over the net. It set up an easy free ball for the final point, though West Aurora hit the ball out to keep the match alive. Two points later the Blackhawks had the win when Geneva served into the net.

“We finished tonight,” West Aurora coach Kari Nicholson said. “We had a little trouble finishing on the weekend. Tonight we played 25 points solid and when we struggled we got ourselves out of it. Geneva is a good team and came at us.”

Vikings coach KC Johnsen was pleased for the most part with how the Vikings handled Carlini’s jump serve.

“We can handle the serve, we are very good at serve-receive,” Johnsen said. “We kind of knew that was coming from the past few years. I don’t think she had any big runs until the end of the second game. Maybe that’s what great players do.”

The teams traded the lead five times with 10 ties in a back-and-forth Game 1. Geneva trailed most of the way until caching the Blackhawks at 18. The Vikings got to game point at 24-23 and 25-24, and West Aurora stayed alive both times. First, McKenzie blasted a kill while an inadvertent buzzer sounded — but she didn’t let it distract her.

Two points later it was Richter’s turn for the clutch shot on Carlini’s set. A lift on Geneva gave West Aurora its first game point at 26-25, and Carlini sent a set across the court to Kelsey Richmond who rocketed a kill to end the game.

“Peyton came through, Kaitlyn came through, and our back row was significantly better,” Nicholson said.

Carlini finished with a match-high 10 kills plus 11 assists while McKenzie added 5 kills and Zeitz 4.

Krystal Brown led West Aurora with 14 assists. McKenzie topped the Blackhawks with 7 digs.

Hannah Buck and Wicinski both had 7 kills to pace Geneva. Hanika added 4 kills while Ashleigh Shain topped Geneva with 11 digs and Kelly Dalheim had 6. Stephanie Earl had 13 assists and Nicole Schneider had 7.

“We have a lot of options and a lot of depth,” Johnsen said. “I thought everyone out there was making some nice plays. We need to be a little more consistent.

“We did some things well for early in the season, and we have some things to work on tomorrow. West Aurora is a solid team this year. They have a little better supporting cast for Lauren.”