Genoa-Kingston denies St. Edward in marathon
GENOA — What if a demolition derby went into overtime?
That might be the best way to describe how Genoa-Kingston defeated St. Edward in the semifinals of the Class 3A Genoa-Kingston girls volleyball regional Tuesday night.
After dropping the first game, the Cogs ground out a pair of overtime wins for a 14-25, 26-24, 30-28 win. Genoa will face Burlington Central for the regional title at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Rockets downed Hampshire, 25-14, 25-23 in Tuesday’s first match.
St. Edward won the first game easily and grabbed an early 3-1 lead in Game 2. But the Cogs shifted gears and started dropping balls short, and the Green Wave could never get comfortable after that.
“We lost it when they started tipping in the second game,” said Wave coach Jaime Dovichi. “We tried to adjust but that’s just not our game. We just couldn’t adjust to picking up those tips.”
Katie Swanson had 12 kills and 21 digs for St. Edward, which finishes the season 18-14. Shannon Igielski also had 12 kills for the Wave. Allison Kruk had 31 digs, and Clara McDowell 21 for the Wave, showing the grueling nature of the match.
The victory was particularly sweet for Genoa, which saw St. Edward end its season in 2 of the last 3 years.
“It was a nice win for us,” said Genoa coach Keith Foster, the former Elgin coach. “Each coach has their own strategy, but it comes down to the girls being able to carry it out. The kids were under a great amount of pressure, and they played extraordinary in situations like that.”
Bridget Halat’s 17 kills led the way for Genoa (19-17).
Kills weren’t the name of the game for Genoa, however. The Cogs had just 4 in Game 2, but took advantage of a plethora of St. Edward errors. The game was tied at 24 when a Wave hitting error gave Genoa the serve, and a Halat kill finished it off.
Neither team could establish any momentum in the epic third game. The longest scoring run by either team was 4 points. St. Edward never led in the late going, but the Cogs couldn’t finish it off, either. Four kills by Igielski kept the Wave in the game late. A kill by Lexie Howie and a missed hit by St. Edward finally gave the Cogs the victory.