Harper takes five, gets past Rochester
When two nationally ranked teams meet, fans naturally expect a competitive contest.
They got what they wanted, though for a time it looked like the No. 8-ranked Harper College womens' volleyball team might easily handle Rochester Community and Technical College on Saturday in Palatine as part of the Harper College Invite.
Harper ended up winning in five sets.
The Hawks quickly earned a 25-20 win in the first set.
"Early, we were sluggish," said Rochester coach Amber Zitzow.
The Yellowjackets (13-3) made Harper work harder to capture the next set set. Twice they had a chance to take control, but eventually a pair of hitting errors allowed Harper to take a 14-13 led. Rochester had it tied at 22 before the Hawks prevailed 25-23.
Rochester seemed to learn from from the latter stages of the second set. The No. 3-ranked team in the country improved its blocking dramatically and won both the third and fourth sets, 25-19 and 25-22.
"I loved the way we came back," Zitzow said.
Harper coach Bob Vilsoet knew winning would not be as easy as it looked at first.
"It's two good teams battling," he said.
"It's all about who can keep focus," said Harper's Lauren Sokolowski, last week's NJCAA Division III player of the week. "Sometimes if we get down, our focus tends to break."
In the fith and final set, the Hawks bent, but did not break. With Harper leading 13-11, the Yellowjackets upped the defensive effort level once again.
"The only thing on our mind was we had to execute," Sokolowski said.
They did, in a decisive 15-13 fifth-set win.
Daniele Sortino (Elk Grove) led Harper with 14 kills, and Kim Butler (Palatine) contributed 31. Meghan Chartier had a team-best 25 digs, while Alyssia Dugo (Jacobs) had 22 and Sokolowski (Rolling Meadows) 11. Jillian Hoffman (Hersey) contributed 21 setting assists and Lindsey Murphy (Crystal Lake South) had 19.
Harper also collected a four-set victory over NJCAA Division II member South Suburban College 27-29, 25-11, 25-20, 25-19 to round out its tourney performance.
On the first day of tournament play Friday, the Hawks collected wins agaisnt Black Hawk Moline (25-18, 25-23, 25-18) and NJCAA Division I member John A. Logan College (17-25, 24-26, 25-19, 25-12, 15-8).
Butler (middle) and Chartier (libero) earned all-tournament recognition as the Hawks finished the weekend with an overall record of 16-5.
The top-ranked team in the tourney, No. 1 Madison Area Technical College, defeated Rochester in four sets.