Geneva continues swinging and winning
With another Western Sun Conference championship secured, it's time for the Geneva girls volleyball team to look ahead to bigger and even better things.
How big? With a No. 2 seed in a sectional the Vikings get to play on their home court, pretty darn big.
Geneva continued its strong play Thursday night, beating Kaneland 25-11, 25-15 in Maple Park.
"We're excited for the conference to end and the state tournament to begin," Geneva senior middle Katie Sommer said. "We've been working hard. Hopefully it pays off."
Kaneland (8-13, 5-7) certainly had energy heading into Thursday's game after several events tied to Volley for a Cure, including a hitting contest to see which male student had the most powerful spike (surprise, surprise - won by 6-foot-9 Dave Dudzinski).
Geneva (26-2, 12-0) wasted little time sapping that energy, with a Lauren Wicinski kill on the first point on the way to a 4-0 lead. The Vikings continued building on their advantage until it was 16-4 and Kaneland took its first timeout.
"We knew they had a great night planned here and would bring a lot of energy and they have some talented players and (Kaneland coach) Todd (Weimer) is a very good coach," Geneva coach KC Johnsen said. "We came in pretty focused and I think that always helps."
Wicinski and Sommer both had 4 kills in Game 1. Geneva had 11 as a team without a single hitting error.
"It was fun the way everyone played, very intense," Sommer said. "We know some of them (the Kaneland players). We're friends. It was kind of like we were feeding off their intensity."
Consecutive kills by Kaneland sophomore Katie Dudzinski early in Game 2 cut Geneva's lead to 5-3 before the Vikings again pulled comfortably ahead. Geneva scored the next 9 points, eight with Maddy Kolquist serving, to make it 14-3.
Wicinski came alive in Game 2 with 9 kills, giving her a game-high 13 plus 3 aces. Sommer finished with 9, Kelsey Augustine had 6 and Alexa Sommer 3.
The Sommer sisters combined for 5 blocks, Brooke Morphis set 23 assists and Grace Burns led the defense with 10 digs, followed by Kolquist with 8 and Augustine 6.
Dudzinski led Kaneland with 5 kills and Ashley Dunn and Abby VanDerHeyden totaled 3. Mackenzie Curran, Jessica Lubic and Dudzinski had blocks.
"Katie had some nice swings," Weimer said. "Meredith (Ament) really stepped up big."
The Knights were coming off losses to Glenbard South, Sycamore and Batavia, which Weimer said has taken its toll.
"You lose to the three teams we just did before Geneva, then Geneva is 2,600 (enrollment) and we are 1,100," Weimer said. "They have 20 girls on their bench, we have 11. It's already a mismatch. It's apple and oranges. They are already up 10-0 before the first whistle is blown."
Despite that frustration, Weimer said he was pleased with the success for Volley for a Cure.
"Tremendous night," Weimer said. "A lot of parents volunteered their time. We raised a lot of money. I would have been very disappointed if we didn't have a huge turnout, and we did, lots of Rowdies, lots of teachers. It turned into a big, huge thing."