Elgin shoots past Larkin in crosstown rivalry

Elgin senior Abbey Houde calls it a "shoot set," and she used it deftly to lift the Maroons to victory over rival Larkin in a hotly contested Upstate Eight Conference girls volleyball match at Chesbrough Field House Tuesday.

After Larkin rallied for 4 straight points to tie Game 3 at 22 apiece, Houde, the Maroons' setter, caught the Larkin defense flat-footed by dumping a shoot set over the Royals' heads to the end line.

Larkin hit a spike attempt into the tape to set up match point, and Houde sent another shoot set just inside the left sideline to close out Elgin's 23-25, 25-18, 25-22 comeback victory.

"I saw the corners open so I figured my best opportunity was to go there," said Houde, who finished with 24 assists.

"The defense was creeping on the other side, so we were able to take advantage of the corners a lot," Elgin coach Keith Foster said. "(Houde) has a great touch on the ball and a great feel for the court."

The victory gave the Maroons (6-13, 2-3) a regular-season sweep of the Royals and extended their winning streak over Larkin to 6 straight under Foster, who has yet to lose a cross-town match in his three seasons. The Royals and Maroons could meet again at the Larkin regional in October.

Larkin (2-18, 1-4) held a 3-2 lead in Game 1 before busting loose for 11 of the next 12 points to forge a 14-3 advantage, a run fueled by 2 aces from sophomore setter Lexi Smithberg and 2 of senior middle hitter Amanda Lye's 5 kills.

Following two timeouts by Foster to regroup, the Maroons rallied to within 22-21 on a let-serve ace by sophomore Elyssa Helker. However, trailing 24-23, Elgin couldn't return a get-me-over bump by the Royals and fell behind by a game.

The Maroons started putting it together in Game 2. They overcame an early 3-0 deficit with 7 straight points, 6 on the serve of sophomore Rachel Roth, who served 2 aces during the surge and finished with 4 of Elgin's 14 aces in the match.

"We progressed throughout the match," Elgin senior libero Lindsey Hedl said. "We started out a little slow, but we motivated ourselves in the end. We were not going to let go of this one, especially for the seniors since it was our last Elgin-Larkin game."

The Royals pulled within 19-16, but kills by Helker, Hedl and senior outside hitter Alyssa Higdon (match-high 9 kills) helped Elgin even the match at a game apiece.

Larkin again jumped to a 3-0 lead in the decisive third game, assisted by 3 straight Elgin errors, but the finale proved to be the most competitive of the three games. The teams found themselves tied on 10 separate occasions and the lead changed hands five times. Larkin trailed 22-18 until 3 Elgin hitting errors and an ace by Larkin sophomore Maggie Hofmann allowed the Royals to tie the match. That's when Houde went to work with shoot sets, a tactic that caught the Royals by surprise.

"We need to be able to adjust to game playing, and we're struggling with that," Larkin coach Gail Johnson said. "The mental aspect of the game, the knowledge of the game, needs to grow. (We have) quite a few young players, inexperienced. It will definitely help us in the future when we start recognizing dumps to the corners."