Girls volleyball: Prospect rallies to dump Rolling Meadows
Prospect's girls volleyball team was missing a few key players due to spring break on Tuesday night.
But that didn't mean the Knights on the floor were going to take a break.
Despite trailing 12-6 in the first set and 4-1 in the second, Prospect rallied each time for a 25-21, 25- 21 Mid-Suburban East victory at Rolling Meadows.
"Some people were playing in different positions that they don't normally play," said Knights junior Cam Mather, who hit at a .400 clip and led her team with 5 kills while also collecting 8 digs.
"So we had to trust each other and make everyone feel comfortable. Everyone had to step up to the plate."
With Set 2 tied at 20-20 after being tied 14 times (11 straight from 7 to 17), Mather stepped up to the service after a big side out kill by sophomore Shelby Hiskes (3 kills).
Mather served 3 straight points with an ace and a kill and a block from senior Ashlyn Gadson (3 kills) which put the Knights ahead 23-20.
After a hitting error that got Meadows to within 23-21, the Knights (2-2, 2-1) put away the match with a kill from sophomore Julia Wydro (4 kills) and a hitting error by the Mustangs (0-3, 0-3).
"We just had to stick together when we got behind and play good defense," Mather added. "That's what we focused on - picking up as many of their attacks as we could."
Knights' senior libero Claire Beattie collected 12 digs while junior Rachel Keil (13 assists) and sophomore Lauren Mueller (7 assists) directed the offense. Junior Lauren Wiley also contributed 4 kills and sophomore Alex Uemura had 3.
"I thought Shelby Hiskes (been playing on the junior varsity) did a real nice job considering she hadn't been on the court for us this season," said Knights coach Laura Gerber. "And Alex Uemura has been out and this was her first time on the floor so I was really happy with how we came together as a team.
"I'm proud of how they were able to come back in each game with confidence and we'll move on here from here."
Meadow coach Katie Nickle likes how her team is moving forward.
"Our serve receive (2.3) was the best it's been all season," she said. "Every single match we've learned something and improved. We have a really young team and we've been making adjustments every game. We have a lot of sophomores so they've had to try to catch up and learn."
Senior Ashlyn Ryan (6 digs) once again led the Mustangs on attack with 9 kills, followed by sophomores Linnea Fahnoe (4 kills) and Nicole Dimova (3 kills). Sophomore Maddie Zera (4 digs) set the offense with 20 assists while junior Eylee Corcoran paced the back row with 15 digs.
"Ashlyn was swinging great and Charlotte Errico had some great blocks," Nickle added. "Eylee was digging great. I think they played together as a team really well.
"I'm not really upset with the loss. It exposed some things we need to work on. But the girls really stayed even keel the whole match. They had set some goals before the match and they felt they accomplished those even though the score may not have reflected it."