Geneva rallies to tip Kaneland in 3
With so many of the Geneva and Kaneland volleyball players teammates during the club season, it always adds an interesting dynamic to their high school match.
“A lot of pressure,” Vikings setter Courtney Caruso said. “You don’t want to lose to your best friends. It’s a crazy game every time just like when we play Batavia.”
That pressure Caruso describes leads to both extremes of volleyball. There were probably a few more mistakes than usual Wednesday night but also plenty of highlight-reel plays in the Vikings’ come-from-behind 18-25, 25-22, 25-23 win in Maple Park.
“This is always an interesting match because everybody knows everybody,” said Geneva coach KC Johnsen who coaches many of the players on both sides during the club season. “It either brings out your best and you saw some incredible things or you might get more errors than you normally get. A little bit of both tonight.”
Geneva (15-5), playing without senior middle Taylor Marmitt (foot), watched a young Kaneland team control Game 1. The Knights trailed just once at 5-4 on a crosscourt kill from Hannah Lanasa, quickly going back ahead as Geneva made errors on five of Kaneland’s first seven points.
Setter Jenny Lubic, the lone senior on Kaneland’s squad, set junior Riley Hannula on game point.
Kaneland trailed most of Game 2 but made a furious charge late to nearly end the match. Trailing 18-11, Kaneland outscored Geneva 10-2 to take a 21-20 lead on Anna Senese’s ace.
An Ellie Dunn kill kept the Knights up 22-21 before Geneva scored the final four points, capping the run when Kyley Thompson and Maddie Courter went up for a block.
“I think we came out so timid, we knew we didn’t want to lose that game, we just played so scared,” Caruso said. “The second game we came together and played for each other, fired up and played aggressive.”
Both teams had their chances during a wild Game 3 featuring 13 ties and 8 lead changes. Kaneland looked poised for the upset taking a 20-17 lead on a Senese kill and Viking hitting error.
Geneva scored three straight, tying the score at 20 when Caruso blocked Dunn. Geneva took a 23-22 lead when Grace Loberg blocked Hannula on a slide kill attempt, and moments later Loberg ended a long rally on match point by punching over a tight set.
“I think the momentum just changed,” Lubic said. “We brought a lot of energy in the first and I think we lacked that in the second.”
Dunn had a huge match with 15 kills while Loberg and Lanasa tied for the Geneva lead with 9. Kelsey Wicinski (34 digs), Caruso (23 assists) and Courter (5 blocks) all came up with key plays.
“They always give us their best,” Johnsen said. “I thought the biggest thing tonight was we were a little more inconsistent than we like to be but what was encouraging was somebody would make an error or two and then they would come back and play like normal. You always worry if someone makes an error how quick they will get back to playing and I thought tonight they did that really well.”