Girls volleyball: Geneva falls in 3A state semifinals despite Malone’s 17 kills
NORMAL — All season long, junior outside hitter Zori Malone has been the second option behind Emma Peterson. But when she's put on the spot, Malone is ready to deliver.
She got hot early Friday and kept it going all match.
“From my perspective, I knew I had to step up for the team,” Malone said. “We had a good start. It was just taking the challenge. I wanted to play my best for everyone and bring the confidence.”
Malone brought the Vikings to the brink with a match-high 17 kills, but they squandered a big lead late in the third game of a 20-25, 25-23, 25-23 loss to Nazareth in the Class 3A state semifinals at CEFCU Arena.
Peterson finished with 13 kills for Geneva (30-10), which plays Crystal Lake South (28-12) at 4 p.m. Saturday for third place. Ally Stevenson added 25 assists for Geneva. Lexi Meives came through with 16 digs and served three aces
Sadie Quinlan led Nazareth (27-13) with nine kills. Tess Tortorello tallied 26 digs.
Geneva led 21-14 in the third game and 23-20 with the serve after a kill by Peterson. Three hitting errors and two kills from Nazareth’s Talia Surendran ended the match, however.
Nazareth coach Esai Velez knew Peterson would get a heavy share of hits for the Vikings. She was served 66 times to Malone’s 50. What gave the Roadrunners problems was Malone delivered.
“I told the girls, if the other outside goes off, we’re going to be in trouble,” Velez said. “She was playing well. It’s like you know what’s happening, but you don’t know how to stop it.
“We knew it was happening, but they’re so good at it.”
Geneva coach Lauren Kosecki understands Peterson usually draws the most attention, so she was happy to see Malone have her chance to shine.
“She played very confident,” Kosecki said. “She’s been our secret little weapon, so I was really proud of her. We knew they would come after Emma and get on her quickly.
“Zori did an awesome job and Ally did a nice job finding her. She just did a good job.”
Early on, Stevenson recognized Malone was in a groove.
“I could definitely tell,” Stevenson said. “It can be hard because somebody could be in a rhythm and make a mistake and you don’t stop setting them because of that error.”
Kosecki, who was an outside hitter in her own right as a player, echoed that sentiment. Of the Vikings’ 31 kills as a team, Malone and Peterson combined for 30.
“They’ve led us all year long,” Kosecki said. “Whether we have an off night or we make errors, we’re going to feed them. They have to figure it out and make it work.”
Malone kept building confidence as her opportunities increased all match.
“I just felt like the more I got set and the more my teammates were doing better it was just giving me more confidence,” Malone said “I just put everything out there.”
The semifinal loss didn’t diminish the accomplishments of the team in Kosecki’s eyes. It's the first time in program history that the Vikings have played in the state finals at Illinois State.
“I am proud of our determination and getting to where we did,” Kosecki said. “It’s really awesome and a really good accomplishment for us and I’m proud of them.”
Despite the emotional semifinal setback, the Vikings wanted to maintain a positive mindset heading into Saturday's third-place match.
“I feel like even though it stinks (Friday), we should still try our hardest (Saturday) and still work for it because that will also feel better if we win,” Malone said. “If we lose, it’s going to sting.”
Mascoutah d. Crystal Lake South: Joanna Kruzolek had six kills and Logan Georgy five in the Gators’ 25-14, 25-16 loss in the second 3A semifinal. Crystal Lake South (28-12) also got nine assists from Peyton Ziegler and five digs from Bobbi Wire.