Girls volleyball: Larkin battles past Elgin

Larkin finally overcame a case of the nerves and put a run together at an opportune time.

The Royals closed the match on a 6-1 run to pull out a 23-25, 25-21, 25-20 win against Elgin in Upstate Eight River girls volleyball action at Chesbrough Field House Thursday night.

Larkin overcame big deficits twice, including in the third set when it fell behind 8-1. The Royals tied it up on a service ace by April McGhee. After that, neither team could establish any momentum. The game was tied at 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19, before Larkin broke away.

Samantha Wahl led the way with 3 kills during the final run. Ella Riddle-Roland then put one down that ticked off the net for the final point.

"Sam didn't do it very pretty but she found the spots on the court I wanted her to find and she got kills off of every single one of them," said Larkin coach Henry Graack.

Wahl finished with 10 kills and 8 digs for Larkin (7-18). Isabella Orozco added 9 kills. Riddle-Roland had 6 kills and 10 digs, and McGhee had 16 digs. Natalie Kofie had 28 assists and 11 digs.

"I thought we were way too nervous up until the last 8 points or so," Graack said. "I think we fought nerves the entire match. The more they were just on the court, the more comfortable they got."

The Maroons raced out to an 11-2 lead in Game 1 following a pair of service aces by Karen Aguirre. The Royals steadily fought back, taking their first lead at 18-17 on an ace by Vanessa Soto. Larkin led 23-21 but couldn't sustain the momentum. The Maroons tallied the last 4 points of the set.

Game 3 was more of the same as Elgin led 8-1 and 9-2 before the Royals started to chip away.

"They fight," said Graack. "They've always fought. It's really inconsistent but they never give up themselves. Luckily, they gave up the chance and let us back in. Don't get me wrong, we fought hard, but I thought they let us back in a little bit, too."

"It just shows that we can push ourselves no matter what the score is," said Wahl. "I think we really played with positivity and kept our energy up the whole game."

Emily Huprich had 5 aces, 17 digs, 17 assists, 2 kills, and 2 blocks for Elgin (9-15, 1-4).

"Larkin had more energy, more focus, they were ready to play," said Elgin coach Scott Stewart. "Our girls didn't rise to the occasion. We kind of got content with where we were, didn't keep fighting."