Girls volleyball: Martin, Sterling too much for Kaneland
FREEPORT - Kaneland had several big weapons, but Sterling had Kaylee Martin.
The NIU-bound senior was seemingly everywhere in leading the Golden Warriors past the Knights, 25-23, 25-19, for the championship of the Class 3A Freeport girls volleyball sectional Thursday night.
Martin had 25 kills, accounting for half of Sterling's points. Her chemistry with setter Josi Borum made her a threat wherever she was on the floor, including the back row. On many points, Martin dug the ball and passed to Borum, who set it back to her.
Kaneland, which ends the season 33-5, countered with a balanced attack. Katie Jablonski led the way with 10 kills. Jessica Weber had 10 and Alex Anderson added 4.
Kaneland led most of the way in the first set, taking a 22-17 lead on a block by Cameron Wyant. But Sterling roared back, finishing on an 8-1 run. Martin accounted for 7 of the points on kills.
The Knights again started quickly in set 2, breaking on top 10-5 but Martin, with help from some Kaneland hitting errors and a service ace by Katelyn Smoot, led another 8-1 spurt to put the Golden Warriors ahead to stay.
"She's a great player," said Kaneland coach Cyndi Violett of Martin. "She was hitting all her spots, hitting over our blocks. We just tried to take advantage any time she was in the back row. And then we started playing timid. We started not being aggressive and not hitting the ball hard.
"We've played against girls like her before. We played Marian Central, Lake Forest. They're all top schools. We've come across girls like that before. You just have to try to take advantage of when they're in that back row."
Martin averages about 23.5 kills per match for Sterling (32-5-1). But the Warriors are more than just a one-person show.
"She's a really good player," said Sterling coach Dale Dykeman. "We play good defense behind her, we get her the ball when we can, our role players step up when they need to. Everybody knows what they need to do and it's been a really good formula for us so far."
At one point in the first set, the Warriors had 14 points, with 10 of them coming on kills by Martin. With Martin in the back row, the Knights were able to take advantage somewhat, but Martin returned to the front row to lead the winning rally.