Energized Prospect handles Wheeling

Due to a power outage last Thursday, Prospect's home girls volleyball match with Wheeling had to be postponed.

The Knights were hardly short on electricity in the rescheduled match on Monday night at the Jean Walker Field House in Mt. Prospect.

"Honestly, a lot of times we don't come out with the energy we should," said Knights senior Brenda Kendziera. "That's what kills us. But this time, we were feeling it. When we are energized and so loud on the court like we were, it makes it so much fun."

And it made for a rather quick 25-14 , 25-16 victory for the Knights who moved tinto a tie for first place in the Mid-Suburban East with 12-time defending champion Hersey. Both are 3-0.

"We were really prepared to play last Thursday night and then the power went out," said Kendziera, who used her power and finesse to put down 4 kills from only five attacks.

"Brenda hit .600," said Knights coach Laura Gerber, whose team improved to 8-4 overall. "Overall, our team played its game, served aggressively and played really good defense."

Sammy Withey, who had 4 kills, has moved into a middle blocker positon for the first time in her career.

"It's a brand new position for me," said Sammy, whose uncle Paul is very familiar to Prospect basketball fans of the 1970s when he was a standout 6-foot-9 center. "It's clicking more for me now."

Withey is also clicking at the service line this season and she added 2 more aces on Monday night.

"We are all good individual players," she said. "But it is working together as team which is the biggest key for us to be successful."

Senior setter Michelle Haaning (16 assists, 9 digs), as usual, masterfully spread the ball to her attackers.

Kaeli Myers also had 4 kills while Mary Mazurek and Maggie Porwit (2 blocks) each had 3 kills.

Set 1 was close early as Wheeling pulled to within 9-8 on a block.

However, following a service error, Nikki Giammarino (13 digs) served 3 straight points for the Knights, who gained a 12-8 lead.

Moments later, Haaning put Prospect in total command with five straight service points, including an ace.

Hanning's fourth and fifth points came on kills by Withey for a 20-10 lead.

Withey served out the set, earning the penultimate point when Porwit blocked an overpass for a kill. Withey's ace made it 25-14.

Set 2 was tied at 6, 7 and 8 before the Knights pulled away 18-8 with Giammarino enjoying a long service run.

Junior standout Timber Terrell led Wheeling (3-13, 1-2) with a match-high 7 kills. She also also had 3 aces, 9 digs, 3 blocks and an ace.

"You can never deny Timber," said Wheeling coach Jason Kopkowski. "In all 16 our our matches this season, I don't know if I've seen a better player. So we are lucky in that sense. I thought Michaela (Vasey, who had 5 kills with a team-high 17 digs) played outstanding defense. And Hala (Fakhoury) and Remy (Jankowski) really served well."

Fakhoury was 6-of-6 at the line with an ace while Jankowski was 3-for-3 with an ace.

Jessica Janowski collected 11 assists for the Wildcats while Elli Parisi had 4 digs.

"At this point, Prospect is more smooth than us, start to finish," Kopkowski said. "We had our runs but as a whole we are not as consistent as we need to be at this level of volleyball.

"We seem to have a knack for making unforced errors just as we are gettting some momentum. Those are growing pains because we are a younger team (with only three seniors on roster). So we must point toward achieving late in the season."