Westmont escapes with win over IC

When Westmont senior Courtney Burke unleashed the last of a combined 73 kills, yet another Immaculate Conception season ended in heartbreak.

The Knights pulled off a stunning rally in the closing stages of a do-or-die third game of the Class 2A Aurora Christian girls volleyball sectional final, only to see their attempt for a third consecutive supersectional appearance fall by the wayside. The off-handed kill Burke kill enabled the Sentinels to escape with a hard-fought 26-24, 15-25 and 28-26 victory before a raucous and highly partisan audience Thursday night in Aurora. IC closed its campaign at 26-13.

"I (used my left hand) because I knew no one was going to be there," Burke said. "We believed a lot."

Westmont (28-9) led the final game 23-18, but IC began its run behind deft serving by Kathleen Ryan. IC's Abby West and Nora Palermo staved off back-to-back match points for Westmont with kills; the latter aced the left side to forge the first tie since 4-4 at 24-all.

"I just went up and swung and hoped it went down," said Palermo, a freshman from West Chicago. "I saw an opening and went for it."

A Westmont service error gave IC a brief respite, and Colleen Manion gave the Knights their only third-game lead, 26-25, with the last of her team-high 10 kills. But Westmont sophomore Maggie Frodin denied the Knights' lone match-point opportunity with a kill. An IC hitting error then set the stage for the Burke match-ender.

"We knew they were going to fight to the bitter end," Westmont coach Jennifer Gliwa-Bell said of the Knights.

"We played our hearts out," West said. "Everyone doubted us (due to heavy graduation losses last spring), but we proved them wrong."

The first game proved to be decisive in the Sentinels' victory; Westmont staved off a pair of IC game points for the first of two overtime wins

"Anytime you are at game point, you need to put it away," said IC coach Jean Field.

But the Knights erupted out of the gate in the second game, scoring 18 of the first 24 points. Manion had 6 kills to lead the Knights' double-digit victory, but the Sentinels' stiffer resistance in its climatic phase did not portend well for IC. Westmont junior Sara Sternard led all players with 11 kills.

"It all starts with a good pass," Sternard said.