Geneva, CLS gain victories

After sweeping its way through the first seven matches of the Western Sun Conference season, Geneva's girls volleyball team ran into a formidable foe Thursday night.

Coming back from a 21-12 Game-3 deficit, Glenbard South enjoyed a late 13-4 surge to tie it at 25-all - and actually fought its way to a pair of match points - before the Vikings survived to pull out a 25-22, 19-25, 31-29 triumph in Geneva.

"We went through a little adversity tonight," said Vikings coach KC Johnsen. "That's good and we responded a million times to it."

Trailing 29-28 in the decisive third game, the Vikings (18-1, 8-0) tied it on a Kelsey Augustine middle kill and grabbed a 30-29 lead after a Glenbard South hitting error before junior outside hitter Lauren Wicinski (match-high 13 kills) sealed it with a cross-court kill from the left side.

"We don't give up," said Wicinski, who added 3 blocks and an ace. "We want conference more than anything this year. We wanted a match like this, we wanted competition like this and we got it.

"It was a little too close but we won it."

Led by seniors Kim Schwerdtmann (9 kills), Amanda Fisch (9 kills) and Darah Preston (7 kills), the Raiders (11-8, 6-2) fought off six ties before pulling away in the second game, scoring 9 of the final 15 points.

However, Glenbard South fell behind 1-0 in the third game before the first serve was even made.

"On the lineup card, I wrote 8 instead of 18," admitted Raiders coach Sherry Hudson, "and look at the final score. That's what bothers me. The kids played their hearts out. I feel like I lost it - that was killing me."

Hudson took several positives from the heartbreaking defeat.

"We could have quit but we didn't," she said. "I think having all the seniors on the team helped us with all that experience. Earlier in the season, we would have rolled over. I'm proud of the way that we fought. I can't believe how tight it was.

"They're (the Vikings) coming up in the national rankings as an up-and-coming team and we were right there with them. We played great but give credit to Geneva. They turned it up when they had to."

The Vikings also received contributions from Megan Odenthal (24 assists), Grace Burns (16 digs), Taylor Whitley (11 digs, 3 kills), Kelsey Augustine (4 kills) and Katie Sommer (4 kills, 4 blocks).

"We had the momentum and we let them get it," said Johnsen. "It's hard to win those games where you give away the momentum like that. Once in a while you can come back after you've lost the momentum like that.

"That was a good test for us."

CL South d. Jacobs: Crystal Lake South coach Jorie Fontana was confident her team could shrug off Tuesday's disheartening loss to Cary-Grove.

Fontana had every reason to be optimistic.

The Gators bounced back with a vengeance with a convincing 25-16, 25-22 win over Jacobs in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division match in Algonquin Thursday night.

"Tuesday night was a wake-up call," said Fontana, a 2000 graduate of Jacobs. "We were upset we lost to Cary-Grove, but we had a fantastic practice Wednesday. The girls were motivated by the loss. The girls really pushed themselves hard and were ready to play tonight."

The Gators' balanced attack at the net proved too much for Jacobs. Katie Trayser and Caitlin Schumacher collected 6 kills for the winners while Illinois-bound senior Erin Johnson picked up 5 kills and Brittany Atkinson had 4 kills.

"We have a lot of good hitters," said Johnson. "We were motivated by the loss Tuesday. We pushed hard in practice Wednesday and came ready to play tonight. We are very happy with the win going into this weekend's

Nike Challenge."

In Game 1, there were 6 lead changes, before the Gators (12-2, 3-1) took the lead for good, 11-10, on a kill by Johnson that catapulted the Gators to a 6-0 run and a 16-10 lead. Jacobs (7-12, 2-2) couldn't get any closer as the Gators claimed Game 1 on a kill by Johnson.

The Golden Eagles challenged Crystal Lake South in Game 2. Jacobs actually held a 16-15 lead after a kill by Lauren Pigatto. But the Gators took control of the game and scored 5 straight points. Trayser, who had 3 kills during the run, had a block to give South a 20-16 lead.

Jacobs climbed within 2 points of the Gators, 24-22, on a kill by Erica Liss. But South came back and won the game and match on a kill by Schumacher.

"We started playing in the second game," said Jacobs coach Lisa Dwyer. "We had good focus and played up to our ability. What hurt us is we would make two errors in a row and you can't do that against a very good team like South."

Pigatto paced the Golden Eagles with 5 kills and 7 digs while Amy Cavanaugh and Taylor Lesner added 4 kills each. Liss garnered 12 set assists for Jacobs.

-Dave Hess

Other games: Cary-Grove (21-3, 4-0) remained undefeated in the Fox Valley (Valley) by defeating Dundee-Crown (12-6, 2-2) 25-12, 25-15. Kelley Lamberti (7 aces) and Hayley Shaw (10 digs) led the Trojans... Huntley (12-7, 3-1) fell 25-17, 25-16 to Prairie Ridge in Fox Valley Conference Fox Division play despite key play from Amy Dion (2 aces, 11 digs)... Despite solid effort from Isadora Borrero (2 kills, 2 digs, 2 aces) and Rachel Hodges (4 digs, kill), Larkin (5-16, 1-6) fell to Neuqua Valley 25-15, 25-10 in Upstate Eight Conference action... Jessica Benson (5 kills, 2 digs) and Hannah Graves (4 kills, 9 assists) led Westminster Christian (7-11, 1-4) to a 25-12, 25-18 Private School League win over Luther North... Strong efforts from Stephanie Holthus (10 kills), Molly Turk (13 assists, 10 digs, 5 kills) and Meghan Zasada (4 digs, 3 kills) helped Burlington Central (17-3, 5-0) to a 25-12, 25-17 Big Northern East Conference victory over Richmond-Burton... Jessica Lubic set 17 assists and Erin Heyob added 8 kills and 5 aces as Kaneland downed Rochelle 25-17, 25-8 in the Western Sun Conference.

Jen LaPorte and Adam Bartolo contributed to this report.