Girls volleyball: It's a Wheeling win, and a rough night for Conant
Playing its penultimate match of the regular season, Wheeling's girls volleyball team won 26-24, 25-15 at Conant as the Cougars celebrated their Senior Night.
Unfortunately, the home team could not celebrate their final match with senior Kristina Loznjakovic setting and attacking. The three-year standout had to miss the match after injuring her knee during warm-ups.
"Heartbreaking," said Conant coach Drewann Pancratz. "She's been with me for three and half years and has started the last three. She's our all-conference player.
"She wanted to play so bad. It's never fun when anyone gets hurt, let alone on a senior on Senior Night."
Wheeling will host its senior night today when St. Viator visits.
The Wildcats take a 17-17 record into the match after receiving 7 kills from Kamila Staniszewski, 5 from Nosa Igiehon and 4 apiece from Nicole Nyugen and Remy Janskowski on Tuesday night in the Mid-Suburban League's fifth-place crossover.
"I hope she (Lonzjakovic) is feeling better," said Staniszewski, one of Wheeling's seniors.
A kill by Staniszewski followed by an ace and kill by Rugile Jaciunas gave Wheeling a 10-3 lead in Set 1.
During that rally, Wildcats libero Jazmyn Veloso (2-for-2 hitting) collected the first back-to-back kills of her career for a 7-3 lead. The 5-foot-3 junior now has 22 kills for the season.
But with sophomore Fiona Fennelly (12 assists, 3 kills) running a 5-1 in place of Loznjakovic, the Cougars fought they way back and the set was tied at every point from 19 to 24.
The Cougars (7-16) got to set point at 24-23 on a kill by Amanda Klingsporn (21 digs, 3 kills) before a service error tied it at 24.
Jankowski's tip kill made it 25-24 and Pancratz called for a timeout.
When play resumed, Nicole Nguyen passed up to setter Jess Jankowski (21 assists), who set Igiehon at the net for a slam kill that ended the set.
Conant sophomore Yuri Hara had 5 of her team-high 7 kills in the first set.
"The girls have been working really hard and they did a lot of good things," Pancratz said. "It comes down to serve and serve receive and unfortunately we had a few too many errors on that part. But the girls fought hard and hopefully we can keep this fight and momentum going for the postseason."
Wheeling gained big momentum in Set 2 when Nguyen stepped to the service line for the biggest run of her career.
With the visitors nursing s 9-8 lead after Igiehon's kill, Nguyen served 11 straight points (1 ace) for a 20-9 advantage.
It was 24-12 when Wheeling staved off 3 match points before Nguyen blocked an overpass on her own attack for the match-winning point.
"I think our serving kept Conant out of system a lot and that makes things a lot easier," said Wheeling coach Jason Kopkowski. "Our attack stayed strong and our passing got strong in the second set which, opened up options.
"Our middles got more involved. Whether it was being more relaxed or starting to execute, things started clicking for sure in the second set."
Nguyen finished 15-for-15 serving while Veloso had 18 digs. Jankowski and Staniszewski each served 2 aces and Igiehon had a pair of blocks.
"Everyone was talking and we all played together in the second set," Staniszewski said. "I think we got a little ahead of ourselves in the first set but we were all pretty confident in the second set and picked it up."
Conant had to pick itself up without Loznjakovic.
"You never wish that upon anyone," Kopkowski said. "I feel real bad about that."
"It was definitely a different lineup without No. 5 out there," Pancratz added.
"Kristina is a leader for us," said Conant defensive specialist Joanna Cho, who was one of the senior players honored before the match along with Loznjakovic, Ania Baker, Leah Jones, Klingsporn, Emma Lewis and Burcin Asilturk. "So were trying to win for her. It was hard but we played together and that's what counts."