Harper advances to regional final
A not-so-funny thing happened to the Harper College women's volleyball team on the way to its much-anticipated NJCAA Region IV Division III title rematch with Rock Valley.
The Hawks lost their first game in Friday's semifinals at College of Lake County 25-20 to Joliet. But the country's second-ranked Division III team rebounded and rolled 25-12, 25-15, 25-13 in the next 3 games.
"Joliet played very well, especially in that first game," said Harper coach Bob Vilsoet. "We settled down after that first game."
Harper (42-13) will try to avenge in last year's regional final at noon today against Rock Valley (38-7), which beat College of DuPage 25-21, 25-12, 25-18 in the other semifinal.
The winner advances to next weekend's national tournament in Rochester, Minn. Harper and Rock Valley shared the last two N4C titles with regular-season splits.
Christy Lima had 11 kills and 24-of-25 serving with an ace for Harper. Anie Fitzpatrick had 10 kills and Nikki Maize had 29 assists.
Maize's sister Megan hit all 21 serves with 2 aces and had 10 digs. Kamila Lokoma had 12 blocks.
"It was a real team effort," Vilsoet said after Harper missed only 4 of 92 serves. "The last 3 games, we hit on all 6 cylinders."