Harper women's volleyball streak reaches eight

Harper volleyball coach Bob Vilsoet continues to tinker with his lineup during the Hawks' eight-game winning streak.

Vilsoet called the streak "very encouraging. It takes a higher level of effort than they thought (to win)."

Freshman opposite hitter Lindsey Pickle (Prospect) had 44 kills in five games last week.

"I am very impressed with her improvement," Vilsoet said of Pickle.

Freshman outside hitter Lauren La Masse had 21 digs in one game at Illinois Valley. The Hawks landed three players on the Illinois Valley All-Tournament team (Pickle, setter Alyssa Cazzato and LaMasse).

The Hawks (12-9, 3-3) host Rock Valley on Tuesday at 6 p.m. The Golden Eagles are ranked fifth in this week's NJCAA Division III poll. The Hawks lost at Rock Valley on Sept. 2.

"Rock Valley is going to be hard-pressed to have improved as much as we have (since September)," Vilsoet said.

Split decision: The Harper College women's soccer team is 4-3 overall and finished 1-1 in last weekend's Rochester Community Tech tournament.

On Saturday the Hawks beat Century 4-1, and on Sunday the Hawks lost to host Rochester (Minn.) 6-0. The Yellowjackets are ranked No. 6 in this week's NJCAA Division III poll.

"(We) played a top team in the country we had never seen," coach Dwayne Cruz said of losing to Rochester.

With many of their top players missing the game due to academic commitments, a short-handed Hawks team traveled to Fort Wayne, Ind., on Tuesday night to play Indiana Tech. The Hawks dropped a 3-0 decision.

"We played really well," Cruz said. "We just didn't finish chances."

Cruz is praising the efforts of freshman defender Samantha Rill.

"Her work ethic is outstanding," he said.

Freshman Jaclyn LaRocca (Schaumburg) set a national record for goals in one game (10) in Harper's season opener against Milwaukee Area Technical College.

Tested at ISU: After running in the Illinois Intercollegiate Championships at Illinois State last weekend, the No. 4-ranked Harper men and No. 5 women's teams travel to St. Paul (Minn) to run in the Roy Griak Invitational hosted by the University of Minnesota this weekend.

Harper coach Paul Paynter believes that some of his freshman could have been intimidated by running in such a big meet as the one at ISU.

"We've got a lot of young kids, and we will show them the ropes" Paynter said.

The injury bug continues to plague the women's team. Several of the Hawks' top runners, including Chelsea McPhearson, did not participate in Saturdays meet.

"It's frustrating," Paynter said of the injuries. "Chris Hoffman (Hoffman Estates) ran really well. He's been working hard; he just hasn't raced well."

Hoffman was the Hawks' top men's performer at ISU.

Paynter likes the way Rolling Meadows graduate Steve Heer has been running.

"He's just a hard worker' he's just going to get better," Paynter said.

Paynter believes the men can tighten up their gaps and improve their scores that way.

Big win: On Wednesday, the Harper men's soccer team defeated Madison Area Technical College 6-0 as Salih Golotic and Qudus Agboola accounted for five of the six Hawks goals. Golotic also added an assist.

Next up is a Friday game at Milwaukee Area Technical College. The Hawks have five games remaining on the schedule before they start the regional knock-out phase.