Girls volleyball: Jacobs holds off Burlington Central in 3
It wasn't easy, but when the last volleyball was spiked, Jacobs had earned a hard-fought 25-19, 20-25, 25-19 win over pesky Burlington Central in Fox Valley Conference action in Algonquin Thursday night.
“We were sloppy with our passing in the second game,” said Jacobs coach Mike Depa. “In the third game, we played with more energy and put it all together.”
Seniors Ireland Van Stone and Jaclyn Poirier keyed the Golden Eagles in Game 3. With the score tied at 14, Jacobs (7-4, 4-2) went on a critical 6-1 run to take control of the game and match.
Van Stone had 2 aces, Poirier 2 kills and Meredith Giustino contributed an ace as the hosts opened up a 20-15 advantage.
The Rockets got kills from Brooke Hoffman and Rylie Hahn to get within 20-17 but couldn't climb any closer.
A kill by Van Stone gave the Eagles the match.
“Coach (Depa) calmed us down between the second and third games and told us we had to cut down on the mistakes,” said Van Stone. “We had to calm down and be positive. We worked together and didn't want to lose.”
Van Stone paced the winners with 8 kills and an ace while Poirier collected 9 kills and 2 blocks. Rachel Kaczorowski had 5 kills, 5 aces, 23 assists and 13 digs. Meredith Giustino had 20 digs.
Hahn and Hoffman paced the Rockets with 7 kills apiece.
“We made too many mistakes in the first game but settled down in the last two games and played much better,” said Central assistant coach Caitlin Zasadil, subbing for head coach Sam Mainzer. “We have a bunch of fighters and we never quit.”
Jacobs started fast in Game 1. Poirier had 3 kills while Giustino, Van Stone and Kaczorowski served aces as the Eagles took an early 8-1 lead.
Central got within 12-9 on a kill from Hahn but didn't get any closer. A kill from Van Stone gave the Eagles the win in Game 1,
Jacobs started the second game like it would wrap up the match
Paced by 2 kills from Iasbella Spychala and Poirier along with 2 aces from Van Stone, Jacobs scored the first 6 points.
The Rockets methodically whittled away at the Eagles' lead. A kill by Hahn tied at the game at 17. and she had another in a 6-0 run to take a 22-17 lead. Hoffman's kill evened the match at 1-1.