Girls volleyball: Harvest Christian downs upstart St. Edward for second straight sectional crown
As the countdown for Harvest Christian's Class 1A sectional final vs. St. Edward headed into the final hour, Lions coach Andy Kownacki had to attend to something very important that was instrumental to the playing of the actual game itself.
Installing the net and posts at the Swaback Center's midcourt.
"Almost finished," Kownacki said with a little bit a laughter. "This keeps me upbeat."
He was well aware of how strong a challenge the Green Wave would bring having earned a two-game split against them back in September when they made the four-mile trek from their campus on the west side of Elgin for the Harvest Invite.
In addition, St. Edward came in to the match as winners of 6 of their last 8 after having dropped 20 of its first 31 games but still had their mentor Dawn Gross cautiously optimistic while also being respectful of the co-top sectional seeded Lions.
"We're definitely the underdog, but we're ready (to play)," Gross said.
Despite their best foot forward, the Green Wave's Cinderella run came to an end as Harvest held off St. Edward 25-15, 19-25, 26-24 to capture its second straight sectional plaque. The Lions also got a 20-mile trip down Randall Road to Monday evening's supersectional at Aurora Christian against Polo sectional winner Stockton (36-2) who unseated reigning 1A titlist Galena (34-4) 25-19, 25-20.
"We started to worry too much about just playing our game," Kownacki said. "The second (game) we were really tight. We settled down and actually got in rhythm, we (regained) the momentum."
Harvest (27-7-1) captured game one thanks to senior Kenzie Weidman's 7 kills, four of which keyed a 10-3 surge that gave them a 17-11 advantage and control of the first set that a final 7-2 tear keyed by back-to-back kills from teammate Alyssa Burke.
However, St. Edward (16-23-1) rallied in the second frame behind a 12-3 decisive run led by sophomore Savannah Lynch's 4 kills sending the contest into a decisive game three. St. Edward trailed 9-7 before an 11-4 run from the sectional hosts placed them with a commanding 20-11 lead which featured 2 aces and a kill by senior Ella Schoenberg and another pair of kills from Burke. An illegal touch by a Green Wave player off a return by Alayna Booras turned into match point that sent the HCA student section onto the court to celebrate with their classmates.
Burke praised the strength of her teammates and coaches after dropping the second set as she was able to escape the mob.
"We were down,“ she said. ”It's hard to win the first (and) to lose the second one, but as teammates we rallied and came together."
As the postgame celebration was taking place on one side of the floor, Gross gathered her 14-member squad one last time — a team made up of 8 juniors and 6 seniors and nary a senior.
"We know what our weaknesses are now, we know what our strengths are,“ Gross said. ”The energy boost came. We played hard in that second set. We're really excited. We're coming back next year stronger."