Girls volleyball: Buckley, Kaneland cruise past LaSalle-Peru

If Kaneland's girls volleyball team needs a kill, Madison Buckley is one candidate that can sure bring down the hammer.

"She's got it, yeah, [a] huge swing," Kaneland coach Cynthia Violett said following the Knights' 25-18, 25-19 sweep over LaSalle-Peru on Tuesday.

The Knights, though, are not just a one or two-person offensive show. They'll throw out six rotations in a given match. Take your pick from senior middle Jordan Weber to junior setter Meghan O'Sullivan to libero Samantha Abruzzo or Buckley, it'll likely produce points wherever they might be on the floor.

"Something we're really good at is holding each other accountable and really trusting each other on the court," said Buckley, who had 7 kills. "That shows, and that's how we're able to pull through. The second set, we did fall a little bit short in the beginning, but we trusted in the person next to us ... we trusted 'OK, she's got that ball, she's going to get it up.' Ultimately, we're going to take the big swing and get it done."

That trust and team bond translates over to genuine fun on the court.

"We're really, really close," Buckley said. "We're always cracking jokes on the court. You know, bowing down to each other after we get a big swing; just going crazy. And, that just totally helps us on the court. It's so much more fun to play as well."

The Knights (6-0, 5-0 Interstate Eight) for the most part controlled the tempo for much of the first set Tuesday to build a 20-9 lead. Three Kaneland attack errors and a kill from Cavaliers junior Sarah Peters helped bring them back a bit. But, a L-P (3-3) attack error and a big 3-point stretch from Weber via a block, kill and an ace helped put Buckley in position for the decisive kill.

"[Weber] gets right up there to the block, she's talking the whole time and when she goes back to serve, we know she's going to score a few points," Buckley said of Weber's impact.

Weber had 4 kills and 3 blocks for the match Tuesday.

"We work really hard at practice to make sure we can get out [of a rut] when we go down," Weber said. "Then, I guess the connection that we have within each other to be able to bring each other up toward the end, really helps."

In the second set, L-P went ahead 17-14, but two attack errors and a Knights kill by Olivia Burtell tied it up. Mia Kane then fired an ace and a Cavaliers attack error gave the Knights a two point advantage, 19-17.

L-P's Ella Thompson earned a kill to close the gap, but Buckley and Kane both hit kills, which was followed by a L-P attack error. Weber had a block, Buckley another kill and a final kill from Weber ensured the 25-19 Knights sweep.