Dundee-Crown able to hold off Jacobs
It's hard to keep a good team down. Jacobs found that out about visiting Dundee-Crown on Thursday night.
The Chargers dropped Game 1 and fell behind by 4 points early in Game 2 and trailed midway through Game 3, but rallied to defeat the Golden Eagles 22-25, 25-21, 25-19 in Fox Valley Conference Valley Division girls volleyball action in Algonquin.
Kiana Mays led the Chargers with 12 kills and 3 aces. Emma Brant added 6 kills and 4 blocks.
"We have been doing this 3-game thing quite a bit lately," Dundee-Crown coach Christine Hopkins-Muehl said. "We know we have the fight it takes to hang in there. We just needed to show we have the faith to execute and pull out the win. This was a tough test, especially on the opposing team's court and falling behind early on. I was really pleased with the way we responded and fought back."
After dropping Game 1, the Chargers (12-6, 2-3) trailed 10-6 early in Game 2, but pulled even at 10-10 on an ace from Brant. D-C finally pulled ahead in Game 2 on a tip kill from Frankie Cavallaro that made it 18-17.
The Chargers went on to close out the game with an 8-4 run. Mays had 2 kills down the stretch and Cavallaro (23 assists and 4 kills) finished it off with an ace.
D-C carried the momentum over to Game 3 jumping out to a 7-2 lead. However, Jacobs (6-12, 1-5) battled back to pull ahead 15-13.
But somehow the Chargers managed to regain the momentum. Mays tied the score 16-16 with an ace and Kailey Moll put D-C ahead for good 17-16 with a block kill. Pagano added 2 more big blocks in the middle and Mays had 2 clutch kills down the stretch.
"It was a pretty incredible game," Mays said. "We had to keep battling back. Early on we were having some communication errors. But we started talking more and came together as a team. We know we have a lot of talent on this team and a lot of potential. We just have to make the most of it."
Kyla Fitzsimmons had 14 kills to lead Jacobs. Bridget Wallenberger added 13 kills, 5 blocks, and 11 digs. Wallenberger helped the Golden Eagles to the win in Game 1 with 7 kills. Paige Queffelec had 23 assists.
"There was a lot of momentum changes," Jacobs coach Lisa Dwyer said. "We lost it at the end. We had some communication errors that let them back in the game and it kind of got in our head."