Glenbard East finds a way to get a victory
Trailing 10-4 in Game 3 of their Tuesday night match against West Aurora, the Glenbard East Rams girls volleyball players knew they had to step up and make big plays if they were to end their night with a win.
And while it certainly won't go down as the prettiest match, the Rams have ever played, they nonetheless left their home court with a victory, coming back for a 25-14, 21-25, 25-19 victory in Lombard.
Glenbard East used a 9-0 run in the third game to turn an 11-9 deficit into an 18-11 advantage, getting a pair of kills from senior Amanda Peterson and junior Mennell Alkhawaja in the process.
"We said, 'We've got to keep our composure, let's not get overconfident, and continue what we were doing,' " Peterson said. "Just play hard, keep the energy up the whole time and play all the way through it - not just to catch up, and not just to not lose. We had to play to win."
Glenbard East (15-7, 8-3 DuPage Valley Conference) had little trouble dispatching the Blackhawks in Game 1, building a steady lead throughout the game and ending with an 11-point victory. Both teams hit the court a bit too flat for their coaches' likings, yet unforced errors on West Aurora's side spelled doom at the outset of the match.
"It hurt us a lot. We lost by 11 points in the first game and we probably missed 10 serves," West Aurora coach Kari Nicholson said. "It's hard to score points when all you score is on sideouts."
The Blackhawks (9-16-1, 2-9 DVC) didn't stay down for long, though, and entered Game 2 on a mission. The visitors seized the lead for good when Paige Rosenbergh's ace put West Aurora ahead 12-11.
"I think they looked at that first game, and they knew they hadn't played the way that they could play," Nicholson said. "I think they decided they were going to show people how they could play in the second game."
According to Rams coach Marci Maier, a heightened energy level pushed Glenbard East past the Blackhawks in the final game.
"I didn't think that we showed a lot of energy," Maier said. "We showed energy in the third game, and that's what carried us over to the win.
"We didn't have it tonight, but we showed that we are a good team, and we still found a way to win."