PR outlasts Jacobs in 3 games

Prairie Ridge girls volleyball coach Stefanie Otto was disappointed with the Wolves play, while Jacobs coach Lisa Dwyer liked what she saw from her young Golden Eagles.

From the coaches comments you would think the Golden Eagles posted a win over the Wolves.

But despite a less than stellar effort, PR escaped Algonquin with a 25-15, 24-26, 25-22 win over Jacobs in Fox Valley Conference crossover action at the Eagles Nest Thursday night.

"We did not play well," said Otto. "We had way too many serving and serve receive errors. All we will do tomorrow at practice is serve. We won't hit at all. It is all mental. It is something we have to correct now."

If it wasn't was for the outstanding play of Louisville signee Taylor Brauneis in the third and decisive game, the Wolves might not been able to beat the scrappy Golden Eagles

After an ace by Jacobs freshmen phenom Alyssa Ehrhardt, the Golden Eagles (0-2) held a narrow 22-21 lead.

Enter Brauneis into the picture. The talented senior slammed down 4 consecutive kills to give the Wolves (1-2) the game and match.

Brauneis paced Prairie Ridge with 16 kills, 2 aces, 5 digs, 15 assists and 5 blocks.

"Taylor has been a mainstay in this program for 4 years," said Otto. "She played a great match and we did a good job of getting her the ball at the end of the match."

Taylor Humm added 11 kills for the winners.

The Golden Eagles got solid efforts from Ehrhardt and sophomore Taylor Lesner, who collected 8 kills apiece. Mattie Stearns provided outstanding play on defense for the Golden Eagles with 15 digs and 5 aces.

"We played so much better than we did in the opener against (Crystal Lake) Central," said Dwyer. "But in the practice after the Central match, we tried not to dwell on the negative. We discussed what happened and stayed positive. The kids came out and played very very well. They were a little better at the end and we just couldn't stop Brauneis."

After Prairie Ridge won Game 1, Jacobs fought back to win Game 2 to knot the match at 1-1. Neither team had more than a 3-point lead and there were 12 lead changes as Jacobs seized control at the end to capture Game 2.

With the score tied at 24, Jacobs won the second game as Lesner and Ehrhardt provided kills to force a third game.