Girls volleyball: Eastland denies Harvest Christian state berth
Be careful what you wish for.
Harvest Christian played in its fifth straight Class 1A supersectional Saturday, and for the first time in three years the Lions did not have to face Keith County Day, who moved up to Class 2A.
Lanark Eastland, however, proved to be just as tough of a challenge.
The Cougars, who have lost only to Class 3A Sterling and tied Kaneland this year, didn't trail in either set, handing Harvest Christian a 25-12, 25-21 loss in front of a packed Westminster Christian gym Saturday.
Eastland (38-1-1) will play Kewanee Wethersfield in the state semifinals at 10:30 a.m. Friday.
Harvest Christian ends its season at 24-15 with a fifth consecutive supersectional setback.
"I think since its their fifth supersectional they felt a lot of pressure going into it," Harvest Christian coach Carissa Mok
said. "They really wanted to get it this year. I think they let the nerves make them more timid."
The nerves were especially evident on the Lions' serve-receive. Eastland served 4 aces in the first set and then things broke down even more for the Lions in the second set as they allowed 10 aces.
"That's been one of our weapons all year," said Eastland coach Kristy Pierce, whose program won the 2008 and 2009 state championships. "We spend a lot of time serving and serving in what we perceive are good places. It paid off."
Eastland opened the match with a thunderous backrow kill from junior Makenzie Fink. She finished with 10 kills, tying the Lions' Mikayla Robinson for match-high.
Mok called timeout down 7-2 trying to settle her team down.
"We let the nerves get the best of us," Mok said. "We were taking too long to move our feet (returning serves). We let our nerves show through."
Trailing 13-4, the Lions had a solid stretch to pull within 17-10 when senior Ellie Burzlaff tooled a shot.
The Cougars again spurted, this time an 8-2 run to close the set.
Eastland jumped to a 15-5 lead in the second set. The Cougars hit three straight shots out to help the Lions close to 15-11 before Fink and company started rolling again, getting to match point at 24-15.
The Lions didn't go quietly, fighting off six straight match points. Robinson tipped for one of the points and put away two more kills before Fink's kill ended the match.
"They fought," Mok said. "If we were going to go down we wanted to go down fighting, and we did. They really came on at the end."
After all the supersectional losses, the Lions might not want to hear anything resembling 'Wait 'til next year.'
But with six starters - juniors Robinson and Hannah Murray, and sophomores Amanda Cassiday, Hannah Griffith, Rylee Boldog and Isa Garcia - all returning, next year might just be the year they clear the super hurdle.
"We'll definitely miss Ellie (Burzlaff), she's a great player and a great leader," Mok said. "It's exciting to know you have such a young group coming back. It's a talented group. They'll be ready."